HOME





Big Ben (Heard Island)
Big Ben (previously known as Big Ben Peak, Old Ben Mountain, Emperor William Peak and Kaiser Wilhelm-Berg) is a volcanic massif that dominates the geography of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. It is a stratovolcano with a diameter of about . Its highest point is Mawson Peak, which is above sea level. Much of it is covered by ice, including 14 major glaciers which descend from Big Ben to the sea. Big Ben is the highest mountain in Australian states and territories, except for the Australian Antarctic Territory. The Australian Antarctic Territory is a territorial claim unrecognised by most other countries, meaning that Big Ben is the highest mountain over which Australia has true sovereignty. A smaller volcanic headland, the Laurens Peninsula, extends about to the northwest, created by a separate volcano, Mount Dixon; its highest point is Anzac Peak, at . Big Ben was first summited on 25 January 1965 by five members of the Southern Indian Ocean Expedition to Heard Isla ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Heard Island And McDonald Islands
The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) is an Australian States and territories of Australia, external territory comprising a volcanic group of mostly barren Antarctic islands, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The group's overall land area is and it has of coastline. Discovered in the mid-19th century, the islands lie on the Kerguelen Plateau in the Indian Ocean and have been an Australian territory since 1947. Heard Island and McDonald Islands contain Australia's only two active volcanoes. The summit of one, Mawson Peak, is higher than any mountain in all other Australian states, territories or land claim, claimed territories, except Dome Argus, Mount McClintock and Mount Menzies in the Australian Antarctic Territory. This Antarctic territory is a land claim unrecognised by most other countries, meaning that Mawson Peak is the highest mountain with undisputed Australian Westphalian sovereignty, sovereignty. The islands are among th ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Glacier
A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as crevasses and seracs, as it slowly flows and deforms under stresses induced by its weight. As it moves, it abrades rock and debris from its substrate to create landforms such as cirques, moraines, or fjords. Although a glacier may flow into a body of water, it forms only on land“Glacier, N., Pronunciation.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, June 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/7553486115. Accessed 25 Jan. 2025. and is distinct from the much thinner sea ice and lake ice that form on the surface of bodies of water. On Earth, 99% of glacial ice is contained within vast ice sheets (also known as "continental glaciers") in the polar regions, but glaciers may be found in mountain ranges on ever ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Pleistocene Stratovolcanoes
The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''Ice Age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in 2009 by the International Union of Geological Sciences, the cutoff of the Pleistocene and the preceding Pliocene was regarded as being 1.806 million years Before Present (BP). Publications from earlier years may use either definition of the period. The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the end of the last glacial period and also with the end of the Paleolithic age used in archaeology. The name is a combination of Ancient Greek () 'most' and (; Latinized as ) 'new'. The aridification and cooling trends of the preceding Neogene were continued in the Pleistocene. The climate was strongly variable depending on the glacial cycle, oscillating between cold glacial periods and warmer interglacials, with the sea levels being up to lower th ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Active Volcanoes
An active volcano is a volcano that is currently erupting, or has the potential to erupt in the future. Conventionally it is applied to any that have erupted during the Holocene (the current geologic epoch that began approximately 11,700 years ago). A volcano that is not currently erupting but could erupt in the future is known as a dormant volcano. Volcanoes that will not erupt again are known as extinct volcanoes. Overview There are 1,350 potentially active volcanoes around the world, 500 of which have erupted in historical time. Many active volcanoes are located along the Pacific Rim, also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire. An estimated 500 million people live near active volcanoes. ''Historical time'' (or recorded history) is another timeframe for ''active''. The span of recorded history differs from region to region. In China and the Mediterranean, it reaches back nearly 3,000 years, but in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and Canada, it reaches back less tha ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

American Geophysical Union
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, Atmospheric science, atmospheric, Oceanography, ocean, Hydrology, hydrologic, Astronomy, space, and Planetary science, planetary scientists and enthusiasts that according to their website includes 130,000 people (not members). AGU's activities are focused on the organization and dissemination of scientific information in the interdisciplinary and international fields within the Earth and space sciences. The geophysical sciences involve four fundamental areas: atmospheric sciences, atmospheric and ocean sciences; solid-Earth sciences; hydrologic sciences; and space sciences. The organization's headquarters is located on Florida Avenue in Washington, D.C. History The AGU was established in December 1919 by the United States National Research Council, National Research Council (NRC) to represent the United States in the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), and its first chairman w ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


List Of Volcanoes In Australia
This is a list of active, dormant and extinct volcanoes in Australia and its island territories. Note that the term volcano is used loosely as it can include groups of related volcanoes and vents that erupted at similar times with lava of related origin. The lists provided below are mainly volcanoes of Cenozoic aged, with some notable older (Mesozoic and Paleozoic aged), volcanoes included. There are no volcanoes on the Australian mainland that have erupted since European settlement, but some eruptions in Victoria, South Australia and North Queensland could have been witnessed by Aboriginal people several thousand years ago, however there is no evidence of this. There are active volcanoes in the Heard and McDonald Islands. Australian states Queensland New South Wales Victoria South Australia South Australia's volcanoes are the youngest in Australia, and erupted within the memory of local Indigenous peoples. They are all in the Limestone Coast region, in the ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Atlas Cove
Atlas Cove is a cove on the north coast of Heard Island and McDonald Islands in the southern Indian Ocean, and is entered between the base of the Laurens Peninsula and Rogers Head. It was named by American sealers after the schooner seal hunting fleet which landed at Heard Island in 1855. The name appears on a chart by the Challenger expedition under George Nares Vice-Admiral Sir George Strong Nares (24 April 1831 – 15 January 1915) was a Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. He commanded the ''Challenger'' Expedition, and the British Arctic Expedition. He was highly thought of as a leader an ..., which visited the island in in 1874 and utilized the names then in use by the sealers. From 1947 to 1955, Atlas Cove was the site of camps of visiting scientists. In 1969, it was again occupied by American scientists. The settlement was expanded in 1971 by French scientists. Mapping was updated in 2000. References External links Map of Atlas Cove and the northwes ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Types Of Volcanic Eruptions
A volcanic eruption occurs when material is expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure vent, fissure. Several types of volcanic eruptions have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of behavior has been observed. Some volcanoes may exhibit only one characteristic type of eruption during a period of activity, while others may display an entire sequence of types all in one eruptive series. There are three main types of volcanic eruptions. Magmatic eruptions involve the decompression of gas within magma that propels it forward. Phreatic eruptions are driven by the superheating of steam due to the close proximity of magma. This type exhibits no magmatic release, instead causing the granulation (process), granulation of existing rock. Phreatomagmatic eruptions are driven by the direct interaction of magma and water, as opposed to phreatic eruptions, where no fresh magma reaches the surface. Within these broad eruptive types ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Heard Island
The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) is an Australian external territory comprising a volcanic group of mostly barren Antarctic islands, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The group's overall land area is and it has of coastline. Discovered in the mid-19th century, the islands lie on the Kerguelen Plateau in the Indian Ocean and have been an Australian territory since 1947. Heard Island and McDonald Islands contain Australia's only two active volcanoes. The summit of one, Mawson Peak, is higher than any mountain in all other Australian states, territories or claimed territories, except Dome Argus, Mount McClintock and Mount Menzies in the Australian Antarctic Territory. This Antarctic territory is a land claim unrecognised by most other countries, meaning that Mawson Peak is the highest mountain with undisputed Australian sovereignty. The islands are among the most remote places on Earth: They are located about southwest of ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Anzac Peak
Anzac Peak is a volcano on the Laurens Peninsula of Heard Island in the Southern Ocean. It lies to the northwest of Mawson Peak. Despite its low elevation of just over 700 metres high, the peak and several neighbouring peaks have permanent snow and ice, like the Jacka Glacier with several icefalls.Google Earth images. See also *List of volcanoes in Antarctica *List of volcanoes in Australia This is a list of active, dormant and extinct volcanoes in Australia and its island territories. Note that the term volcano is used loosely as it can include groups of related volcanoes and vents that erupted at similar times with lava of re ... References External links *Clichere to see a map of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, including all major topographical features Mountains of Australia Volcanoes of Heard Island and McDonald Islands ANZAC (Australia) {{Subantarctic-geo-stub ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Mount Dixon, Heard Island
Mount Dixon () is a snow-covered stratovolcano, high, standing west of Anzac Peak on the Laurens Peninsula, Heard Island. The feature appears to have been roughly charted on an 1860 sketch map by Captain H.C. Chester, an American sealer operating in the area during this period. It was surveyed in 1948 by the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE), and named by them for Lieutenant Commander George M. Dixon, RANVR, commanding officer of HMAS ''Labuan'' which landed and relieved the 1948 and 1949 ANARE parties. The peak is northwest of Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, and, by extension, for the clock tower itself, which stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. Originally named the Clock Tower, it .... No activity has been observed on Mount Dixon, however some lava flows that are vegetation-free suggest an eruption within the last few hundred years. References ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Laurens Peninsula
Laurens Peninsula () is a rugged peninsula surmounted by several ice-covered peaks that forms the northwestern part of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. The name was applied by the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition following their survey in 1948. It derives from the existing name Cape Laurens, applied for the northwestern extremity of this peninsula after the American bark Bark may refer to: Common meanings * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Arts and entertainment * ''Bark'' (Jefferson Airplane album), ... ''Laurens'' which, under Captain Franklin F. Smith, visited Heard Island in 1855–56 and assisted in initiating sealing operations there. A small hill called Macey Cone sits at the northwest end of the peninsula. It is connected to the main island by the Fidelia Isthmus, although new channels are increasingly separating the two areas. ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]