The Commonwealth Range () is a north-south trending range of rugged mountains, long, located within the

Queen Maud Mountains The Queen Maud Mountains () are a major group of mountains, ranges and subordinate features of the Transantarctic Mountains, lying between the Beardmore Glacier, Beardmore and Reedy Glaciers and including the area from the head of the Ross Ice Sh ...

on the

Dufek Coast The Dufek Coast is that portion of the coast along the southwest margin of the Ross Ice Shelf between Airdrop Peak on the east side of the Beardmore Glacier and Morris Peak on the east side of Liv Glacier. It was named by the New Zealand Antarctic ...

of the continent of Antarctica. The range borders the eastern side of

Beardmore Glacier The Beardmore Glacier in Antarctica is one of the largest valley glaciers in the world, being long and having a width of . It descends about from the Antarctic Plateau to the Ross Ice Shelf and is bordered by the Commonwealth Range of the Queen ...

from Keltie Glacier to the

Ross Ice Shelf The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica (, an area of roughly and about across: about the size of France). It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than long, and between high ...

. The range is southeast of the

Queen Alexandra Range The Queen Alexandra Range () is a major mountain range about long, bordering the entire western side of Beardmore Glacier from the Polar Plateau to the Ross Ice Shelf. The range is in the Transantarctic Mountains System, and is located in the Ross ...

, which is to the west of the Beardmore Glacier. It is west of the Hughes Range and north of the

Supporters Range The Supporters Range () is a rugged range in the Queen Maud Mountains of Antarctica. It is long, bordering the eastern side of Mill Glacier, from Keltie Glacier in the north to Mill Stream Glacier in the south. So named by the New Zealand Geol ...

and the

Barton Mountains The Barton Mountains () are a group of mountains located south of the Commonwealth Range and the Hughes Range and bounded by Keltie Glacier, Brandau Glacier, Leigh Hunt Glacier, and Snakeskin Glacier, in the Queen Maud Mountains. Exploration ...

Discovery and naming

The range was discovered by the

British Antarctic Expedition, 1907–09 The ''Nimrod'' Expedition of 1907–1909, otherwise known as the British Antarctic Expedition, was the first of three expeditions to the Antarctic led by Ernest Shackleton and his second time to the Continent. Its main target, among a range of ...

and named by them after the Commonwealth of Australia, which gave much assistance to the expedition.

Location

The Commonwealth Range runs from south to north along the east side of the

. Towards its southeast the

Pain Névé The Keltie Glacier () is a large Antarctic glacier, long, draining from Pain Névé southwest around the southern extremity of the Commonwealth Range, and then northwest to enter Beardmore Glacier at Ranfurly Point. It was discovered by the Br ...

feeds the Keltie Glacier, which flows southwest, then west, then north round the southern tip of the range to join the Beardmore Glacier. The

Canyon Glacier Canyon Glacier () is a narrow glacier, long, flowing to the Ross Ice Shelf. It drains the northwest slopes of Mount Wexler and moves northward between steep canyon walls of the Separation Range and Hughes Range (Antarctica), Hughes Range to join ...

forms just north of the Pain Névé and flows north along the east side of the range. Further north the

Hood Glacier Hood Glacier () is a glacier about long draining northward from Siege Dome in the Commonwealth Range of Antarctica. It enters the Ross Ice Shelf between the Commonwealth Range and the Separation Range. The glacier was discovered by the Souther ...

defines the east side of the range, which stretches to the Ross Ice Shelf. Features, from north to south, include Johnson Bluff, Flat Top, Mount Deakin, Mount Donaldson, Mount Macdonald to the east of Ludeman Glacier, a tributary of the Beardsmore, Mount Hermanson, Gray Peak, Dudley Head, Siege Dome, Dolphin Spur to the north of Hood Glacier, Mount Patrick, Wedge Face, Beetle Spur and Mount Cyril. Further north are Celebration Pass, Mount Henry, Mount Harcourt and Mount Kyffin.

Highest peaks

Mountains and peaks over high include:

Features

Features, from south to north, include:

Johnson Bluff

. A conspicuous rock bluff east-northeast of Ranfurly Point, overlooking the east side of Keltie Glacier at its confluence with Beardmore Glacier. Named by United States

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 Dwight L. Johnson, USARP biologist at McMurdo Station, 1963.

Flat Top

. A prominent ice-covered mountain, over high, with a broad, flat summit area, standing just east of the head of Osicki Glacier. It is the highest point in the Commonwealth Range. Named by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910–13, as being descriptive.

Mount Deakin

. A prominent mountain, high, at the east side of Beardmore Glacier, just north of the mouth of Osicki Glacier. Discovered by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907–09 and named by Shackleton for Sir

Alfred Deakin Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1903 to 1904, 1905 to 1908, and 1909 to 1910. He held office as the leader of th ...

, Prime Minister of Australia, who had supported the expedition.

Mount Donaldson

. A mountain, high, standing north-northeast of Flat Top and west of the head of Ludeman Glacier. Discovered and named by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907–09.

Mount Macdonald

. A peak, high, surmounting the massive north–south trending ridge between Ludeman Glacier and Pain Névé. Named by NZGSAE (1961–62) for the Hon. T.L. Macdonald, who was Minister of External Affairs and of Defence when the CTAE (1956–58) was being planned and who took a prominent part in obtaining New Zealand participation in the Antarctic.

Mount Hermanson

. An ice-covered mountain in the Queen Maud Mountains, high, standing at the head of Cunningham Glacier, southwest of Gray Peak. Named by US-ACAN for Capt. J.M. Hermanson, USN, air operations officer, McMurdo Station, 1957–58; Chief of Staff to the U.S. Antarctic Projects Officer, 1959.

Gray Peak

. A prominent rock peak, high, standing at the west side of Canyon Glacier, northeast of Mount Hermanson. Named by US-ACAN after Thomas I. Gray, Jr., Weather Central meteorologist at Little America V, 1958.

Dudley Head

. A snow-covered, prominent ridge projecting into the east side of Beardmore Glacier, surmounted by several domes rising to , about south of Mount Patrick. Discovered and named by the British Antarctic Expedition 1907–09, and called "Mount Dudley" by Shackleton. The name was amended by US-ACAN in keeping with the appearance of the feature.

Siege Dome

. A small, ice-covered prominence standing to the south of the head of Hood Glacier, close southeast of Mount Patrick. Named by the New Zealand Alpine Club Antarctic Expedition (1959–60) because while attempting to establish a survey station here, they met with an eight day snow storm.

Dolphin Spur

. A broad ice-covered spur just east of Mount Patrick, descending north into the upper reaches of Hood Glacier. Its several rock outcrops when seen from lower levels of the glacier resemble a school of dolphins diving through the sea. Named by the New Zealand Alpine Club Antarctic Expedition, 1959-60.

Mount Patrick

. A massive largely ice-covered mountain rising to high, just east of Wedge Face on the east side of the Beardmore Glacier. Discovered and named by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907–09.

Wedge Face

. A descriptive name for the prominent wedge-shaped rock spur that projects from Mount Patrick into the eastern part of Beardmore Glacier. This feature was almost surely observed by Shackleton's Southern Journey Party on its ascent of the Beardmore Glacier in December 1908. It was named by the South Pole Party of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910–13, under Robert Scott.

Beetle Spur

. A rock spur north of Mount Patrick. It descends from a small summit peak on the range to the east side of Beardmore Glacier. Probably first seen by Shackleton's Southern Party in 1908. The name is descriptive of the appearance of the spur when viewed from the west. Name suggested by John Gunner of the Ohio State University Geological Expedition, 1969–70, who collected geological samples at the spur.

Mount Cyril

. An ice-covered mountain, high, standing south of Celebration Pass. Discovered and named by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907-09 under Shackleton. Named for Cyril Longhurst, Secretary of the BrNAE (1901–04), who was best man at Shackleton's wedding.

Celebration Pass

. A low pass through Commonwealth Range just north of Mount Cyril permitting passage between Beardmore Glacier and Hood Glacier. The pass was crossed on Christmas Day, 1959, by the N.Z. Alpine Club Antarctic Expedition (1959–60) and was named by them because of the festivities held to mark the day.

Mount Henry

. A sharp peak, high standing southeast of Mount Kyffm on the east side of Beardmore Glacier. Discovered and named by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907–09.

Mount Harcourt

. A mountain, high, standing east of Mount Kyffin at the north end of the Commonwealth Range. Discovered and named by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907–09.

Mount Kyffin

. A distinctive reddish-brown mountain, , with a sloping spur extending to the north, at the extreme north end of the Commonwealth Range, projecting into the east side of Beardmore Glacier and rising precipitously above it. Discovered by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907–09 and named for Evan Kyffin-Thomas, one of the proprietors of the Register, an

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, South Australian newspaper. He was a traveling companion of Shackleton's on the voyage from England.

Mount Robert Scott

. A small, flat, snow-covered mountain that rises over and is situated immediately south of Ebony Ridge. Discovered by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907–09 under Ernest Shackleton, who named this feature for Capt. Robert F. Scott, RN. Shackleton had been a member of Scott's Southern Polar Party which reached 82, 17'S on the British National Antarctic Expedition 1901–04).

Ebony Ridge

. A coastal ridge long between Airdrop Peak and Mount Robert Scott at the north end of the Commonwealth Range. It consists of dark metamorphosed greywacke contrasting sharply with the predominate brown ochre of the weathered surface of the granitic intrusions forming nearby Mounts Kyffin and Harcourt. Descriptively named by the New Zealand Alpine Club Antarctic Expedition, 1959-60.

Mount Kathleen

. A peak about high, being the central and highest summit of Ebony Ridge at the north end of Commonwealth Range. Discovered by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907–09 under Sir Ernest Shackleton, who named this feature for his eldest sister.

Airdrop Peak

. A twin-peaked mountain, high at the north end of Commonwealth Range. It is the first prominent feature in Ebony Ridge when approached from the northwest. When New Zealand surveyors were making observations from the higher of the two peaks on Dec. 11, 1959, an R4D aircraft of United States Navy Squadron VX-6 flew overhead to drop a spare radio to the expedition whose original one had broken down. So named because of this incident by the N.Z. Alpine Club Antarctic Expedition, 1959-60.

References

Sources

* * * *{{Include-USGov , agency=United States Geological Survey Queen Maud Mountains Dufek Coast