Mt Lister, Royal Society Range, Antarctica

Royal Society Range, South Side, Victoria Land, Antarctica

The Royal Society Range () is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have ari ...

Victoria Land Victoria Land is a region in eastern Antarctica which fronts the western side of the Ross Sea and the Ross Ice Shelf, extending southward from about 70°30'S to 78°00'S, and westward from the Ross Sea to the edge of the Antarctic Plateau. I ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. With its

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for a m ...

at , the massive

Mount Lister Mount Lister is a massive mountain, high, forming the highest point in the Royal Society Range of Victoria Land, Antarctica. It was discovered by the British National Antarctic Expedition (1901–1904) which named it for Lord Joseph Lister, P ...

forms the highest point in this range. Mount Lister is located along the western shore of

McMurdo Sound McMurdo Sound is a sound in Antarctica. It is the southernmost navigable body of water in the world, and is about from the South Pole. Captain James Clark Ross discovered the sound in February 1841, and named it after Lt. Archibald McMurdo ...

between the Koettlitz, Skelton and Ferrar glaciers. Other notable local terrain features include Allison Glacier, which descends from the west slopes of the Royal Society Range into Skelton Glacier.

Discovery and naming

The range was probably first seen by Captain

James Clark Ross Sir James Clark Ross (15 April 1800 – 3 April 1862) was a British Royal Navy officer and polar explorer known for his explorations of the Arctic, participating in two expeditions led by his uncle John Ross, and four led by William Edwa ...

in 1841. The range was explored by the

British National Antarctic Expedition The ''Discovery'' Expedition of 1901–1904, known officially as the British National Antarctic Expedition, was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since the voyage of James Clark Ross sixty years earlier (1839–184 ...

(BrNAE) under

Robert Falcon Scott Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra Nov ...

, who named the range after the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

and applied names of its members to many of its peaks. For example, Mount Lister was named for Lord Joseph Lister, President of the Royal Society, 1895–1900. The Royal Society provided financial support to the expedition and its members had assisted on the committee which organized the expedition.

Geology

The Royal Society Range consists of a

Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of th ...

igneous and meta-igneous

basement complex In geology, basement and crystalline basement are crystalline rocks lying above the mantle and beneath all other rocks and sediments. They are sometimes exposed at the surface, but often they are buried under miles of rock and sediment. The baseme ...

overlain by

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, wh ...

- to

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest per ...

-age

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...

siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility.Blatt ''et al.'' 1980, ...

s and conglomerates of the

Beacon Supergroup The Beacon Supergroup is a geological formation exposed in Antarctica and deposited from the Devonian to the Triassic (). The unit was originally described as either a formation or sandstone, and upgraded to group and supergroup as time passed. It ...

which dip shallowly westward away from the Ross Sea coast.Sugden, D.E., Summerfield, M.A., Denton, G.H., Wilch, T.I., McIntosh, W.C., Marchant, D.R., and Rutford, R.H., 1999
Landscape development in the Royal Society Range, southern Victoria Land, Antarctica: stability since the mid-MioceneGeomorphology
v. 28, p. 181-200. The entire region is cut by north–south trending longitudinal faults, east–west trending transverse faults, and structurally related

dike swarm A dike swarm (American spelling) or dyke swarm (British spelling) is a large geological structure consisting of a major group of parallel, linear, or radially oriented magmatic dikes intruded within continental crust or central volcanoes ...

Tectonic Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents ...

and

fluvial In geography and geology, fluvial processes are associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them. When the stream or rivers are associated with glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps, the term glaciofluvial or fluviog ...

activity have featured very heavily in the recent geologic history of the Royal Society Range. Following the extension of the Ross Sea Basin (c. 55 million years ago), an episode of

uplift Uplift may refer to: Science * Geologic uplift, a geological process ** Tectonic uplift, a geological process * Stellar uplift, the theoretical prospect of moving a stellar mass * Uplift mountains * Llano Uplift * Nemaha Uplift Business * Upli ...

drove the creation of the Royal Society Range rift flank. At this time a tectonic (though ''not'' accretionary) wedge, up to 6 km thick on the coast, was present, though it quickly began to erode due primarily to fluvial processes, and the Royal Society Range was cut down near to its present appearance by the mid-Miocene. Relatively limited glacial action since that time has preserved much of the fluvial architecture of the Range, and though uplift did not cease, its magnitude is such that it has not drastically affected the landscape, having progressed only 67 meters in the last 8 million years.

Koettlitz Glacier Alkaline Province

Neoproterozoic The Neoproterozoic Era is the unit of geologic time from 1 billion to 538.8 million years ago. It is the last era of the Precambrian Supereon and the Proterozoic Eon; it is subdivided into the Tonian, Cryogenian, and Ediacaran periods. It is prec ...

tectonic extension along the edge of the East Antarctic Craton between the Skelton and Koettlitz Glaciers resulted in the emplacement of coarse grained alkaline igneous

intrusive rock Intrusive rock is formed when magma penetrates existing rock, crystallizes, and solidifies underground to form '' intrusions'', such as batholiths, dikes, sills, laccoliths, and volcanic necks.Intrusive RocksIntrusive rocks accessdate: March ...

s (ranging from gabbro to A-type granite). This area of alkaline intrusives is referred to as the Koettlitz Glacier Alkaline Province Ross Orogeny Cambrian tectonic convergence, continental collision and plate subduction led to the emplacement of calc-alkaline and adakitic granitoids. This period of mountain building is referred to as the Ross Orogeny.

Volcanic history

The Royal Society Range contains over 50 basaltic vents, ranging in size from tiny mounds to

cinder cone A cinder cone (or scoria cone) is a steep conical hill of loose pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic clinkers, volcanic ash, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are formed by explosive eruption ...

s up to 300 meters (985 feet) high. Dating of surface material indicates they were active earlier than 15 million years ago (e.g.

Heald Island Heald Island () is an island, long and high, which projects through the ice of Koettlitz Glacier just east of Walcott Bay, in Victoria Land, Antarctica. It was discovered and named by the British National Antarctic Expedition The ''Discovery'' ...

) and as recently as 80,000 years ago, with glacier-bound

tephra Tephra is fragmental material produced by a volcanic eruption regardless of composition, fragment size, or emplacement mechanism. Volcanologists also refer to airborne fragments as pyroclasts. Once clasts have fallen to the ground, they r ...

layers suggesting even more recent

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...

activity. The vast majority of vents are located in the foothills of the Royal Society mountains just north of Koettlitz Glacier, and most are Quaternary in age. Most emanating flows are 3–10 meters thick and less than 4 kilometers long. The composition, with very few exceptions, is porphyritic

basanite Basanite () is an igneous, volcanic ( extrusive) rock with aphanitic to porphyritic texture. It is composed mostly of feldspathoids, pyroxenes, olivine, and plagioclase and forms from magma low in silica and enriched in alkali metal oxides tha ...

with primarily

olivine The mineral olivine () is a magnesium iron silicate with the chemical formula . It is a type of nesosilicate or orthosilicate. The primary component of the Earth's upper mantle, it is a common mineral in Earth's subsurface, but weathers qui ...

and

clinopyroxene The pyroxenes (commonly abbreviated to ''Px'') are a group of important rock-forming inosilicate minerals found in many igneous and metamorphic rocks. Pyroxenes have the general formula , where X represents calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), iron (Fe I ...

phenocrysts, though some phenocrystic

plagioclase Plagioclase is a series of tectosilicate (framework silicate) minerals within the feldspar group. Rather than referring to a particular mineral with a specific chemical composition, plagioclase is a continuous solid solution series, more p ...

is also present.Wright, A.C., and Kyle, P.R., 1990, Royal Society Range Summary, ''in'' LeMasurier, W.E., and Thomson, J.W., eds., Volcanoes of the Antarctic Plate and Southern Oceans: Washington, DC
American Geophysical Union
Antarctic Research Series, v. 48, p. 81-88.

Features

Abbott Spur The Royal Society Range () is a mountain range in Victoria Land, Antarctica. With its summit at , the massive Mount Lister forms the highest point in this range. Mount Lister is located along the western shore of McMurdo Sound between the Koett ...

* Allison Glacier * Amphitheatre Glacier * Anne Hill * Auster Pass * Ball Glacier * Baronick Glacier *

Battleship A battleship is a large armour, armored warship with a main artillery battery, battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1 ...

* Berry Spur * Bindschadler Glacier * Bishop Peak * Boom Basin * Borg Bastion * Brandau Crater * Bubble Spur * Carleton Glacier * Cathedral Rocks * Chancellor Ridge * Chaplains Tableland * Columnar Valley * Comberiate Glacier *

Copland Pass The Copland Pass (el. ) is an alpine pass in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Known as Noti Hinetamatea by the indigenous Ngāi Tahu, the pass follows the route of the Makaawhio ancestor Hinetamatea and her sons Tātāwhākā and Marupeka. ...

* Covert Glacier * Craw Ridge * Dale Glacier * Dot Cliff * Dromedary Glacier * Emmanuel Glacier * Engebretson Peak * Ferrar Glacier * Fisher Bastion * Fogle Peak * Foster Glacier * Frio Peak * Frostbite Spine * Harvey Summit * Heke Peak * Henderson Pyramid * Highway Ridge * Hofmann Spur * Hooker Glacier * Hooper Crags * Horseshoe Crater * Howchin Glacier * Ibarra Peak * Inan Peak * Jezek Glacier *

Jigsaw Rock Gut Jigsaw Rock Gut () is a prominent gully west of Margaret Hill on Rücker Ridge, in the Royal Society Range of Victoria Land, Antarctica. It was named by the New Zealand Geographic Board in 1994 following work in the area by a New Zealand Geologi ...

* Johns Hopkins Ridge *

Joseph Lister Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, (5 April 182710 February 1912) was a British surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventative medicine. Joseph Lister revolutionised the craft of ...

* Kamb Glacier *

Kenney Nunatak Kenney Nunatak () is a conspicuous nunatak rising in Waddington Glacier, south-southwest of Ugolini Peak, in the Royal Society Range of Victoria Land, Antarctica. It was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names in 1994 after Frank J. ...

* Koettlitz Glacier * Lava Tongue Pass * Lettau Peak * Lister Glacier * Lower Jaw Glacier * Maine Ridge * Margaret Hill *

Matataua Glacier Matataua Glacier, formerly Marchant Glacier () is a glacier, about long, which drains the slopes of Rampart Ridge between Mount Bishop and Mount Potter and flows northwest to the vicinity of Mount Bockheim, in the Royal Society Range, Victori ...

* Mata Taua Peak * McConchie Ridge * McDermott Glacier *

McMurdo Dry Valleys The McMurdo Dry Valleys are a row of largely snow-free valleys in Antarctica, located within Victoria Land west of McMurdo Sound. The Dry Valleys experience extremely low humidity and surrounding mountains prevent the flow of ice from nearby ...

* Mitchell Glacier * Mount Bockheim * Mount Chiang * Mount Cocks * Mount Duvall * Mount Essinger * Mount Fuller * Mount Hooker * Mount Huggins * Mount Huxle *

Mount Kempe Mount Kempe () is a peak, high, midway between Mount Huggins and Mount Dromedary in the Royal Society Range of Victoria Land, Antarctica. It was discovered by the British National Antarctic Expedition (1901–04) which named it for Sir Alfred ...

Mount Lisicky Mount Lisicky () is a peak, high, standing northwest of Mount Cocks in the Royal Society Range, Antarctica. It was mapped by the United States Geological Survey from ground surveys and Navy air photos, and was named by the Advisory Committee on ...

* Mount Mignone * Mount Moxley * Mount Rucker * Mount Schwerdtfeger * Mount Stearns * Mount Windle * Murcray Heights * Murihau Peak * Navajo Butte * Pearsall Ridge * Platform Spur * Potter Glacier * Poutini Peak * Puke Toropa Mountain *

Radian Glacier Radian Glacier () is a glacier on the east side of the Royal Society Range, descending from a high cirque just southeast of Mount Rucker and flowing east toward Walcott Glacier. In the measurements made of this glacier by the Victoria University ...

Rampart Ridge Rampart Ridge () is a prominent broken ridge on the west side of the Royal Society Range, standing north of Rutgers Glacier and extending from The Spire to Bishop Peak. Surveyed and given this descriptive name in February 1957 by the New Zealan ...

* Rester Peak *

* Rucker Ridge *

Rutgers Glacier Rutgers Glacier () is a steep glacier on the west side of the Royal Society Range in the Ross Dependency, Antarctica. Rutgers Glacier descends southwest from Johns Hopkins Ridge and Mount Rucker to enter the Skelton Glacier. Abbott Spur separat ...

* Salient Glacier * Salient Peak *

Salient Ridge Salient Ridge () is a prominent ridge, 6 nautical miles (11 km) long, extending east-northeast from Salient Peak along the south side of Salient Glacier in Royal Society Range, Victoria Land. Named in association with the peak and glacier ...

* Shupe Peak *

Skelton Glacier Skelton Glacier is a large glacier flowing from the polar plateau into the Ross Ice Shelf at Skelton Inlet on the Hillary Coast, south of Victoria Land, Antarctica. Discovery and naming Named after the Skelton Inlet by the New Zealand party o ...

* Skelton Névé * Sladen Summit * Solomon Glacier * Solomon Saddle * Sphinx Valley * Spring Glacier * Stoner Peak * Tasman Ridge * Terminus Mountain * The Pimple * Transit Ridge * Tuati Peak *

Umran Inan Umran Savaş İnan ( tr, Ümran Savaş İnan; born December 28, 1950) is a scientist at Koç University and Stanford University in the field of geophysics and very low frequency radio science. He received his PhD from Stanford in 1977 under the ...

* Waiparahoaka Mountain *

Walcott Glacier Koettlitz Glacier is a large Antarctic glacier lying west of Mount Morning and Mount Discovery in the Royal Society Range, flowing from the vicinity of Mount Cocks northeastward between Brown Peninsula and the mainland into the ice shelf of McMurd ...

Ward Glacier Ward Glacier () is a small glacier between Terminus Mountain and Howchin Glacier on the east side of the Royal Society Range in Victoria Land Victoria Land is a region in eastern Antarctica which fronts the western side of the Ross Sea and t ...

* Ward Lake * Wirdnam Glacier

References

External links

*{{cite gvp, name=Royal Society Range, vn=390021, access-date=2021-06-24 Scott Coast Volcanoes of Victoria Land Cenozoic volcanism