Cape McCormick
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The Adare Peninsula (), is a high ice-covered peninsula, long, in the northeast part of
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 78th parallel south, 78°00'S, and westward from the Ross Sea to the edge of the Ant ...
, extending south from Cape Adare to Cape Roget. The peninsula was named by the
New Zealand Antarctic Place-Names Committee New Zealand Antarctic Place-Names Committee (NZ-APC) is an adjudicating committee established to authorize the naming of features in the Ross Dependency on the Antarctic continent. It is composed of the members of the New Zealand Geographic Board pl ...
(NZ-APC) for Cape Adare. The peninsula is considered the southernmost point of the
Borchgrevink Coast The Borchgrevink Coast is that portion of the coast of Victoria Land between Cape Adare and Cape Washington. The name was recommended by the New Zealand Antarctic Place-Names Committee in 1961 after Carsten Borchgrevink, a member of Henrik Johan B ...
, named for
Carsten Borchgrevink Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink (1 December 186421 April 1934) was a Norwegian polar explorer and a pioneer of Antarctic travel. He inspired Sir Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen, and others associated with the Heroic Age ...
(1864-1934).


Geology

The Adare Peninsula consists of overlapping
shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more viscous lava ...
es that have been potassium–argon dated 6 to 13 million years old. Potassium–argon dates of 2.27 million years and perhaps 1.14 million years have also been obtained. The Adare Peninsula shields form part of the Hallett Volcanic Province of the
McMurdo Volcanic Group The McMurdo Volcanic Group is a large group of Cenozoic volcanic rocks in the western Ross Sea and central Transantarctic Mountains areas of Antarctica. It is one of the largest provinces of alkaline volcanism in the world, having formed as a resu ...
.


West coast features

Named features on the west coast, which faces Robertson Bay, are (from north to south):


Cape Adare

. A prominent cape of black basalt which is in visual contrast to the rest of the snow-covered coast, forming the north tip of Adare Peninsula. The cape marks the northeast extremity of Victoria Land and the west side of the entrance to the Ross Sea. Discovered in Jan. 1841 by Captain James Ross, Royal Navy, who named it for his friend Viscount Adare, M.P. for Glamorganshire.


The Sisters

. Two stacks or pillar-like rocks standing together just north of Cape Adare at the northeast extremity of Victoria Land. First charted and named The Sisters by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1898-1900, under
Carsten Borchgrevink Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink (1 December 186421 April 1934) was a Norwegian polar explorer and a pioneer of Antarctic travel. He inspired Sir Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen, and others associated with the Heroic Age ...
. The northern pillar was later named Gertrude Rock, and the southern one Rose Rock, by the Northern Party of British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-13.


Gertrude Rock

. The northern of two rocks called The Sisters, off the north extremity of Cape Adare. The Sisters were named by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1898-1900. Gertrude Rock was named by Campbell, leader of the Northern Party of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-13, at the suggestion of Levick, after Gertrude and Rose, two sisters mentioned in a favorite comic song of the time.


Rose Rock

. The southern of two rocks called The Sisters, off the north extremity of Cape Adare. The Sisters were named by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1898-1900. Rose Rock was named by Campbell, leader of the Northern Party of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-13, at the suggestion of Levick, after a favorite comic song which concerned two sisters named Rose and Gertrude.


Ridley Beach

. A cuspate beach feature forming a triangle about long on each side, lying south of Cape Adare, on the west side of Adare Peninsula in northern Victoria Land. This was the camp site of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1898-1900, under C.E. Borchgrevink. He gave the camp his mother's maiden name. The Northern Party, led by Campbell, of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-13, disembarked here in 1911, and they gave the name to the entire beach. The beach is the site of an
Adélie penguin The Adélie penguin (''Pygoscelis adeliae'') is a species of penguin common along the entire coast of the Antarctic continent, which is the only place where it is found. It is the most widespread penguin species, and, along with the emperor peng ...
rookery.


Von Tunzelman Point

. The west point of the cuspate Ridley Beach, southwest of Cape Adare, Adare Peninsula, in northeast Victoria Land. Named in 1984 by the NZ-APC after Alexander Von Tunzelman, one of four New Zealanders taken on at Stewart Island as crew members of Antarctic, the ship of the Norwegian expedition, 1894-95, led by Captain Leonard Kristensen and Henrik J. Bull. He was a member of the launch party under Captain Kristensen which made a landing in the vicinity of this point, January 24, 1895, the first recorded landing in Victoria Land.


Boulder Rock

. A rock lying along the west side of Adare Peninsula, immediately south of Ridley Beach, in northern Victoria Land. Charted and named in 1911 by the Northern Party led by Campbell of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-13.


Seal Point

. A steep rock point south of Ridley Beach on the west side of Adare Peninsula, northern Victoria Land. Charted and named in 1911 by the Northern Party, led by Campbell, of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-13.


Adare Saddle

. A saddle at about high, situated at the junction of Adare Peninsula and the Admiralty Mountains, and at the junction of Newnes Glacier and Moubray Glacier which fall steeply from it. Named by the
New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition The New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition (NZGSAE) describes a series of scientific explorations of the continent Antarctica. The expeditions were notably active throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Features named by the expeditions 19 ...
(NZGSAE), 1957-58, in association with Adare Peninsula and Cape Adare.


East coast features

Named features on the east coast, which faces the Ross Sea, are (from north to south):


Downshire Cliffs

. A line of precipitous basalt cliffs rising to above the Ross Sea and forming much of the east side of Adare Peninsula. In 1841 Captain James Ross applied the name "Cape Downshire" to a part of these cliffs. He did so at the request of Cdr. Francis R.M. Crozier of the Terror, after the latter's friend, the late Marquis Downshire. No prominent cape exists here and, for the sake of historical continuity, the name has been reapplied to these cliffs.


Hanson Peak

. A small peak, high, south of Cape Adare in the north part of Adare Peninsula. Named by the NZ-APC after Nikolai Hanson, member of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1898-1900, under C.E. Borchgrevink, who was the first man known to have died on the Antarctic mainland (at Cape Adare, Oct. 14, 1899). Hanson's grave surmounts nearby Cape Adare.


Nestling Rock

. A rock lying in the sea just east of the north portion of Adare Peninsula, along the coast of Victoria Land. The descriptive name applied by NZ-APC suggests the location of this relatively small feature beside towering Downshire Cliffs.


Fenwick Ice Piedmont

. An
ice piedmont An ice piedmont consists of "Ice covering a coastal strip of low-lying land backed by mountains." Further reading * Vijay P. Singh, Pratap Singh, Umesh K. Haritashya, editors, 'Encyclopedia of Snow, Ice and Glaciers'', P 49 References

*'' ...
on the east side of Adare Peninsula. The ice piedmont is formed by numerous glaciers draining the east side of Adare Peninsula between Downshire Cliffs and Cape McCormick. Named by New Zealand Geographic Board (NZGB) (2005) to honor the voluntary work and service given by Rob Fenwick over more than a decade to furthering the protection of historic sites under New Zealand’s care in Antarctica.


Cape McCormick

. Cape marking the east extremity of Adare Peninsula in Victoria Land. Discovered by Captain James Ross, 1841, who named it for Robert McCormick, Surgeon on the ''Erebus''.


Cape Roget

. A steep rock cape at the south tip of Adare Peninsula, marking the north side of the entrance to Moubray Bay along the east coast of Victoria Land. Discovered by Captain James Ross, 1841, who named it for Peter Mark Roget, noted English lexicographer who was Secretary of the Royal Society. The cape is the site of an Emperor penguin rookery.


References


Sources

* * * * * {{Include-USGov , agency=United States Geological Survey Peninsulas of Victoria Land Borchgrevink Coast Pennell Coast Volcanoes of Victoria Land Polygenetic shield volcanoes Miocene shield volcanoes Pleistocene shield volcanoes Shield volcanoes of Antarctica