Mont Crozier is a summit of the

Kerguelen Archipelago The Kerguelen Islands ( or ; in French commonly ' but officially ', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (' in French), are a group of islands in the sub-Antarctic region. They are among the most isolated places on Earth, with the closest t ...

, a group of

volcanic islands Geologically, a volcanic island is an island of volcano, volcanic origin. The term high island can be used to distinguish such islands from coral island, low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the Tectonic uplift, uplifting of c ...

in the southern

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

, southeast of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. Mont Crozier is located on the

Courbet Peninsula The Courbet Peninsula () is a peninsula in northeastern Grande Terre Island, the main island of the subantarctic Kerguelen Archipelago, Southern Indian Ocean. In the south of the peninsula is Port-aux-Français, the principal station of the archi ...

of Grande Terre and rises to above sea level.

Geography

Mont Crozier is the highest point on the Courbet peninsula, situated in the west and overlooking the Port-aux-Francais research station. The hills and slopes of Mont Crozier consist of

olivine basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron ( mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% ...

with thicknesses up to .

History

The summit was named in 1874 by members of the British

Challenger expedition The ''Challenger'' expedition of 1872–1876 was a scientific programme that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. The expedition was named after the naval vessel that undertook the trip, . The expedition, initiated by W ...

in honour of

Francis Crozier Francis Rawdon Moira Crozier (; 17 October 1796 – disappeared 26 April 1848) was an Irish officer of the Royal Navy and polar explorer who participated in six expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. In 1843, he became a Fellow of the ...

, who had commanded HMS Terror during James Clark Ross' expedition to Antarctica (including the Kerguelen in 1840). Theophil Studer and several of his companions attempted to ascend Mount Crozier in 1874 but gave up and turned back due to bad weather. It was

Edgar Aubert de la Rüe Edgar Aubert de la Rüe (1901–1991) was a French geographer, geologist, traveller and photographer who was primarily devoted to the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Kerguelen Islands, Kerguelen, and Vanuatu. Mount Aubert de la Rue on Heard ...

and the Comorian Moilimou Zitoumbi who, in February 1952, reached the summit of Mont Crozier first.Edgar Aubert de la Rüe, ''Deux ans aux îles de la Désolation. Archipel de Kerguelen'', Julliard, 1954, p. 218

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crozier Landforms of the Kerguelen Islands Mountains of Overseas France