Craddock Massif is a mountain

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

in the

Sentinel Range The Sentinel Range is a major mountain range situated northward of Minnesota Glacier and forming the northern half of the Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica. The range trends NNW-SSE for about and is wide. Many peaks rise over and Vinson Mass ...

of the

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 Minneso ...

, in the Chilean claim of

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 Transan ...

Location and highest point

Craddock Massif is located at the southeastern side of

Vinson Massif Vinson Massif () is a large mountain massif in Antarctica that is long and wide and lies within the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains. It overlooks the Ronne Ice Shelf near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula. The massif is located ab ...

, between Hammer Col and Karnare Col linking it to Vinson Massif and the southern Sentinel Range respectively. The highest point of Craddock Massif is

Mount Rutford Mount Rutford is a sharp peak that rises to and marks the highest point on Craddock Massif in the Sentinel Range, Ellsworth Mountains. The peak stands just north of Bugueño Pinnacle and 2.1 mi north of Mount Craddock, with which this na ...

, a sharp peak that rises to . The Craddock Massif also includes (from north to south)

Bugueño Pinnacle Bugueño Pinnacle () is a slender rock peak that is reported to rise over 4400 m between Mount Rutford and Rada Peak on the crest of the Craddock Massif in the Sentinel Range. Named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names in 2006 after Manuel ...

Rada Peak Rada Peak () is a rounded peak that rises to 4001 m between Bugueño Pinnacle and Mount Craddock on the crest of the Craddock Massif in the Sentinel Range. Named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names The Advisory Committee on Antarctic N ...

and Mount Craddock.

Discovery and naming

Sentinel Range was first sighted and photographed from the air on November 23, 1935, by

Lincoln Ellsworth Lincoln Ellsworth (May 12, 1880 – May 26, 1951) was an American polar explorer, engineer, surveyor, and author. He led the first Arctic and Antarctic air crossings. Early life Linn Ellsworth was born in Chicago, Illinois on May 12, 1880. His ...

. The entire range, including Craddock Massif, was mapped by the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

from aerial photography taken by the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

, 1958–61. This massif was originally named "Mount Craddock" by the

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 ...

(US-ACAN) in 1965, but subsequent maps limited the name to the massif's southernmost

peak Peak or The Peak may refer to: Basic meanings Geology * Mountain peak ** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics * Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion * Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-d ...

, a modification that was adopted by US-ACAN in 2006 when it approved the name Craddock Massif. The massif is named after Professor J. Campbell Craddock (1930–2006), the leader of the 1962–63

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

geological expedition to the Sentinel and

Heritage Range The Heritage Range is a major mountain range, long and wide, situated southward of Minnesota Glacier and forming the southern half of the Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica. The range is complex, consisting of scattered ridges and peaks of mo ...

s of the Ellsworth Mountains.

Maps

Vinson Massif.
Scale 1:250 000 topographic map. Reston, Virginia: US Geological Survey, 1988. * D. Gildea and C. Rada. Vinson Massif and the Sentinel Range. Scale 1:50 000 topographic map. Omega Foundation, 2007.
Antarctic Digital Database (ADD).
Scale 1:250000 topographic map of Antarctica. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). Since 1993, regularly updated.

References

External links

Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR)

Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica
{{Antarctica Mountain ranges of Ellsworth Land Mountains of Ellsworth Land Ellsworth Mountains

Location and highest point

Discovery and naming

Maps

See also

References

External links