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Byrd Subglacial Basin
Byrd Subglacial Basin () is a major subglacial basin of West Antarctica, extending east–west between the Crary Mountains and the Ellsworth Mountains. It is bounded to the south by a low subglacial ridge which separates this feature from Bentley Subglacial Trench. A crude delineation of this subglacial basin was determined by several U.S. seismic parties operating from Byrd Station, Little America V, and Ellsworth Station during the 1950s and 1960s. It was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (1961) for its locus relative to Marie Byrd Land and Byrd Station. This revised description, excluding Bentley Subglacial Trench and smaller basins to the south of Flood Range and the Ford Ranges, follows delineation of the region by the Scott Polar Research Institute–National Science Foundation–Technical University of Denmark The Technical University of Denmark (), often simply referred to as DTU, is a polytechnic university and school of engineering. It was founded in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Antarctica
West Antarctica, or Lesser Antarctica, one of the two major regions of Antarctica, is the part of that continent that lies within the Western Hemisphere, and includes the Antarctic Peninsula. It is separated from East Antarctica by the Transantarctic Mountains and is covered by the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. It lies between the Ross Sea (partly covered by the Ross Ice Shelf), and the Weddell Sea (largely covered by the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf). It may be considered a giant peninsula, stretching from the South Pole towards the tip of South America. West Antarctica is largely covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, but there have been signs that climate change is having some effect and that this ice sheet may have started to shrink slightly. Over the past 50 years, the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula has been – and still is – one of the most rapidly warming parts of the planet, and the coasts of the Peninsula are the only parts of West Antarctica that become (in summer) i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crary Mountains
Crary Mountains () are a group of ice-covered volcanoes in Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. They consist of two or three shield volcanoes, named Mount Rees, Mount Steere and Mount Frakes, which developed during the course of the Miocene and Pliocene and last erupted about 30,000-40,000 years ago. The first two volcanoes are both heavily incised by cirques, while Mount Frakes is better preserved and has a wide caldera at its summit. Boyd Ridge is another part of the mountain range and lies southeast of Mount Frakes; it might be the emergent part of a platform that underlies the mountain range. The volcanoes consist mainly of basalt, trachyte and phonolite in the form of lava flows, scoria and hydrovolcanic formations. Volcanic activity here is linked to the West Antarctic Rift system, which is responsible for the formation of a number of volcanoes in the region. During their existence, the range was affected by glaciation and glacial-volcanic interactions. Geography and geomor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ellsworth Mountains
The Ellsworth Mountains are the highest mountain ranges in Antarctica, forming a long and wide chain of mountains in a north to south configuration on the western margin of the Ronne Ice Shelf in Marie Byrd Land. They are bisected by Minnesota Glacier to form the Sentinel Range to the north and the Heritage Range to the south. The former is by far the higher and more spectacular with Mount Vinson () constituting the highest point on the continent.Bockheim, J.G., Schaefer, C.E., 2015. ''Soils of Ellsworth Land, the Ellsworth Mountains''. In: Bockheim, J.G. (Ed.), ''The Soils of Antarctica. World Soils Book Series'', Springer, Switzerland, pp. 169–181. The mountains are located within the Chilean Antarctic territorial claim but outside of the Argentinian and British ones. Discovery The mountains were discovered on November 23, 1935, by the American explorer Lincoln Ellsworth in the course of a trans-Antarctic flight from Dundee Island to the Ross Ice Shelf. He gave the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bentley Subglacial Trench
The Bentley Subglacial Trench is a vast topographic trench in Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica, 80°S, 115°W. At 2,555 meters (8,382 ft) below sea level, it (along with the deepest points within the adjacent Byrd Subglacial Basin) is among the lowest points on the surface of the Earth not covered by ocean, although it is covered by ice. (See Extremes on Earth and Vestfold Hills). The trench was named in 1961 after Charles R. Bentley, who was the geophysicist in charge of the scientific expeditions in West Antarctica in 1957–59 that led to its discovery. In 2016, some hot anomalies were detected beneath Bentley Subglacial Trench and Mount Sidley volcano.AGUPublications Notes References * Central Intelligence Agency, World FactbookRetrieved 28 October 2008. * AGUPublications Retrieved 4 October 2017. See also * Extreme points of Antarctica * Extremes on Earth *Extreme points of Earth *Vestfold Hills * West Antarctic Rift System * Jacobshavn Isbræ *Denman Glacie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byrd Station
The Byrd Station is a former research station established by the United States during the International Geophysical Year by U.S. Navy Seabees during Operation Deep Freeze II in West Antarctica. It was a year-round base until 1972, and then seasonal up to 2005. The station was built in 1957, and is located on the West Antarctic ice cap. It was accessible by overland ice traverse or by ski-equipped C-130 aircraft. History A joint Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines operation supported an overland tractor train traverse that left out of Little America V in late 1956 to establish the station. The train was led by Army Major Merle Dawson and completed a traverse of over unexplored country in Marie Byrd Land to blaze a trail to a spot selected beforehand. The station consisted of a set of four prefabricated buildings and was erected in less than one month by U.S. Navy Seabees. It was commissioned on January 1, 1957. The original station ("Old Byrd") lasted about four years befo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little America V
Little America was a series of Antarctic exploration bases from 1929 to 1958, located on the Ross Ice Shelf, south of the Bay of Whales. They were built on ice that is moving very slowly, the relative location on the ice sheet, has moved and eventually breaks off into an iceberg. The geographic location has new ice that has shifted to this location, and is technically over the open water. The coordinates are approximate. Little America I The first base in the series was established in January 1929 by Richard Byrd, and was abandoned in 1930. This was where the film '' With Byrd at the South Pole'' (1930), about Byrd's trip to the South Pole, was filmed. Little America II Little America II was established in 1934, some above the site of the original base, with some of the original base accessed via tunnel. This base was briefly set adrift in 1934, but the iceberg fused to the main glacier. During the 1934–1935 expedition, many souvenir letters were sent from Little Ameri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ellsworth Station
Ellsworth Scientific Station (, or simply ''Estación Ellsworth'' or ''Base Ellsworth'') was a permanent, all year-round originally American, then Argentine Antarctic scientific research station named after American polar explorer Lincoln Ellsworth. It was located on Gould Bay, on the Filchner Ice Shelf. It was shut down in 1962 over safety concerns due to it being built on increasingly unstable ice, which produced fast deterioration of its superstructures and endangered both personnel and equipment. History Ellsworth Station was built by United States Navy Seabees under the command of Captain Finn Ronne, with the support of the icebreakers USS ''Staten Island'' and USS ''Wyandot'', captained by Francis Gambacorta. The originally planned site for the station was Cape Adams, but when the terrain proved impractical due to huge ice cliffs, an alternate location on Gould Bay was selected, on the western coast of the Weddell Sea over the Filchner Ice Shelf, and close to the Arg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Advisory Committee On Antarctic Names
The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (ACAN or US-ACAN) is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending commemorative names for features in Antarctica. History The committee was established in 1943 as the Special Committee on Antarctic Names (SCAN). It became the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names in 1947. Fred G. Alberts was Secretary of the Committee from 1949 to 1980. By 1959, a structured nomenclature was reached, allowing for further exploration, structured mapping of the region and a unique naming system. A 1990 ACAN gazeeter of Antarctica listed 16,000 names. Description The United States does not recognise territorial boundaries within Antarctica, so ACAN assigns names to features anywhere within the continent, in consultation with other national nomenclature bodies where appropriate, as defined by the Antarctic Treaty System. The research and staff support for the ACAN is provided by the United States Geologi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marie Byrd Land
Marie Byrd Land (MBL) is an unclaimed region of Antarctica. With an area of , it is the largest unclaimed territory on Earth. It was named after the wife of American naval officer Richard E. Byrd, who explored the region in the early 20th century. The territory lies in West Antarctica, east of the Ross Ice Shelf and the Ross Sea and south of the Pacific Ocean portion of the Antarctic or Southern Ocean, extending eastward approximately to a line between the head of the Ross Ice Shelf and Eights Coast. It stretches between 158°W and 103°24'W. The inclusion of the area between the Rockefeller Plateau and Eights Coast is based upon Byrd's exploration. Overview Because of its remoteness, even by Antarctic standards, most of Marie Byrd Land (the portion east of 150°W) has not been claimed by any sovereign state. It is by far the largest single unclaimed territory on Earth, with an area of , including Eights Coast, immediately east of Marie Byrd Land. In 1939, United States ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flood Range
The Flood Range () is a range of large snow-covered mountains extending in an east–west direction for about and forming a right angle with the southern end of the Ames Range in Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. Location The Flood Range is south of the Hull Glacier and Kirkpatrick Glacier, which drain into Hull Bay on the Southern Ocean coast of Marie Byrd Land. The eastern end of the range is immediately south of the Ames Range. There are no named features in the ice sheet to the south of the range. The north slopes of the range form the western end of the Usas Escarpment. Discovery and name The Flood Range was discovered by the Byrd Antarctic Expedition (ByrdAE) in 1934 from a great distance. Reconnaissance flights by the United States Antarctic Service (USAS) (1939–41) explored the range. The principle mountain was named "Mount Hal Flood" by Richard E. Byrd for his uncle, the Hon. Henry D. Flood, U.S. Representative from Virginia. The name was subsequently transferred ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ford Ranges
The Ford Ranges () are a collection of mountain groups and ranges standing east of Sulzberger Ice Shelf and Block Bay in the northwest part of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. Location The Ford Ranges lie along the coast of Marie Byrd Land to the south and east of the Sulzberger Ice Shelf and to the east of Block Bay. The ranges and major glaciers are, from southwest to northeast, Hershey Ridge, Haines Mountains, Hammond Glacier, Swope Glacier, Mackay Mountains, Boyd Glacier, Sarnoff Mountains, Allegheny Mountains, Clark Mountains, Arthur Glacier, Denfeld Mountains, Crevasse Valley Glacier, Chester Mountains, Fosdick Mountains, Balchen Glacier and Phillips Mountains. A 1945 report defines the Southern Ford Ranges as the ranges between McKinley Peak and the Balchen Glacier, which excludes the Phillips Mountains. They cover an area of about . This portion of the mountainous coastland of Marie Byrd Land is one of the few areas in Antarctica where there are enough roc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scott Polar Research Institute
The Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) is a centre for research into the polar regions and glaciology worldwide. It is a sub-department of the Department of Geography in the University of Cambridge, located on Lensfield Road in the south of Cambridge. SPRI was founded by Frank Debenham in 1920 as the national memorial to Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his companions, who died on their return journey from the South Pole in 1912. It investigates issues relevant to the Arctic and Antarctic in the environmental sciences, social sciences and humanities. The institute is home to the Polar Museum and has some 60 personnel, consisting of academic, library and support staff plus postgraduate students, associates and fellows attached to research programmes. The institute also hosts the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. Research SPRI has several research groups. Notable researchers that have been based at the institute include Julian Dowdeswell, British diplomat Bryan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
