The Executive Committee Range is a mountain range consisting of five major volcanoes, which trends north-south for along the

126th meridian west The meridian 126° west of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole. The 126th meridian west forms a grea ...

, in

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 centur ...

, Antarctica. The complete range was discovered by the United States Antarctic Service Expedition (1939–41), during a flyover of the area on 15 December 1940, and named for the Executive Committee of the Expedition. Four of the five mountains are named in honor of individual members of the committee;

Mount Sidley Mount Sidley is the highest dormant volcano in Antarctica, a member of the Volcanic Seven Summits, with a summit elevation of . It is a massive, mainly snow-covered shield volcano which is the highest of the five volcanic mountains that comprise t ...

, the most imposing mountain in the range and highest volcano in Antarctica, had been discovered and named by Rear Admiral

Byrd Byrd commonly refers to: * William Byrd (c. 1540 – 1623), an English composer of the Renaissance * Richard E. Byrd (1888–1957), an American naval officer and explorer Byrd or Byrds may also refer to: Other people * Byrd (surname), includin ...

in 1934, during his privately funded Second Antarctic Expedition. The entire range was mapped in detail, by the United States Geological Survey, using various surveys and U.S. Navy trimetrogon photography performed from 1958 to 1960.

Mountains

The following are the five mountains, all volcanic in origin, of the Executive Committee Range, in order from south to north.

Mount Waesche

Mount Waesche, the southernmost mountain in the range, rises to . MountSidleyWaescheMap

Mount Sidley

Mount Sidley, northeast of Mount Waesche, is the highest in the range and the highest volcano in Antarctica, with a summit of .

Mount Hartigan

Mount Hartigan () is a broad mountain immediately north of Mount Sidley. Mount Hartigan rises to , at the higher of its twin

Boudette Peaks The Executive Committee Range is a mountain range consisting of five major volcanoes, which trends north-south for along the 126th meridian west, in Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. The complete range was discovered by the United States Antarctic Ser ...

, located in its northern portion. The mountain was discovered by the United States Antarctic Service expedition on a flight, Dec. 15, 1940, and named for Rear Admiral

Charles C. Hartigan Charles Conway Hartigan (September 13, 1882 – February 25, 1944) was born in Norwich, New York and died in Edgewater, Maryland. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1906. He received the Medal of Honor for actions at the Uni ...

, U.S. Navy (USN), Navy Department member of the Antarctic Service Executive Committee. HamptonMap

Mount Cumming

Mount Cumming () is a low, mostly snow-covered mountain, volcanic in origin, located midway between Mount Hampton and Mount Hartigan. A circular snow-covered crater occupies the summit area, rising to at

Annexstad Peak The Executive Committee Range is a mountain range consisting of five major volcanoes, which trends north-south for along the 126th meridian west, in Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. The complete range was discovered by the United States Antarctic Ser ...

, on the southwest side of the crater rim. Discovered by the U.S. Antarctic Service (USAS) (1939–41) on a flight, Dec. 15, 1940, and named for Hugh S. Cumming, Jr., State Department member of the U.S. Antarctic Service (USAS) Executive Committee. Mapped by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) from surveys and U.S. Navy trimetrogon photography, 1958-60.

Mount Hampton

Mount Hampton, the northernmost mountain in the range, rises to at Marks Peak, on the south side of its crater rim.

Other geological features

Peaks

The five mountains have a number of associated subsidiary peaks that have been identified and named.

Chang Peak The Executive Committee Range is a mountain range consisting of five major volcanoes, which trends north-south for along the 126th meridian west, in Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. The complete range was discovered by the United States Antarctic Ser ...

rises to on the northeastern slope of Mount Waesche.

Doumani Peak The Executive Committee Range is a mountain range consisting of five major volcanoes, which trends north-south for along the 126th meridian west, in Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. The complete range was discovered by the United States Antarctic Ser ...

rises to on the southern slopes of Mount Sidley.

Lavris Peak The Executive Committee Range is a mountain range consisting of five major volcanoes, which trends north-south for along the 126th meridian west, in Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. The complete range was discovered by the United States Antarctic Ser ...

rises to in the northeastern portion of Mount Hartigan. Le Vaux Peak () is a small peak on the east side of the crater rim of Mount Cumming. Mapped by United States Geological Survey (USGS) from surveys and U.S. Navy aerial photographs, 1958-60. Named by

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) for Howard A. Le Vaux, auroral physicist at

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. History A joint Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marin ...

, 1959, and a member of the Marie Byrd Land Traverse Party, 1959-60.

Mintz Peak The Executive Committee Range is a mountain range consisting of five major volcanoes, which trends north-south for along the 126th meridian west, in Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. The complete range was discovered by the United States Antarctic Ser ...

rises to on the southeast corner of Mount Hartigan.

Tusing Peak The Executive Committee Range is a mountain range consisting of five major volcanoes, which trends north-south for along the 126th meridian west, in Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. The complete range was discovered by the United States Antarctic Ser ...

rises to from the central portion of Mount Hartigan. Whitney Peak is a conspicuous peak rising to , located northwest of Mount Hampton, from which it is separated by a distinctive ice-covered saddle.

Woolam Peak The Executive Committee Range is a mountain range consisting of five major volcanoes, which trends north-south for along the 126th meridian west, in Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. The complete range was discovered by the United States Antarctic Ser ...

is a small peak on the southern part of the crater rim of Mount Cumming.

Miscellaneous

The

Feyerharm Knoll The Executive Committee Range is a mountain range consisting of five major volcanoes, which trends north-south for along the 126th meridian west, in Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. The complete range was discovered by the United States Antarctic Ser ...

is an ice-covered knoll protruding to in a terrain on the lower northeastern slope of Mount Sidley. The

Weiss Amphitheater Weiss Amphitheater () is an amphitheater-like caldera, 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) wide and breached at the southern side, occupying the south-central part of Mount Sidley, in the Executive Committee Range, Marie Byrd Land. It was mapped by ...

is an amphitheater-like

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

, wide and breached at the southern side, occupying the south-central part of Mount Sidley.

Recent and Ongoing Magmatism

In November 2013, Lough et al.Lough, A., Wiens, D., Barcheck, C., Aster, R., Nyblade, A., Huerta, A., Wilson, T., Seismic detection of an active subglacial volcanic center in Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica, Nature Geoscience, 10.1038/ngeo1992, 2013. reported deep long period volcanic earthquakes centered at depths of 30-40 km approximately 55 km S of Mount Sidley that were interpreted as indications of present deep crustal magmatic activity beneath the Executive Committee Range. Ice penetrating radar results reported in this study indicated a sub-ice topographic feature, interpreted as a volcano, above the seismic swarms. The study also reported a mid-icecap (1400 m depth) ash layer about 8,000 years old that was interpreted as probably originating at nearby Mount Waesche.

References

{{Reflist Volcanoes of Marie Byrd Land