HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Mount Elkins, also known as Jökelen (which means "The Glacier") is a dark, steep-sided
mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...
with three major peaks, the highest
above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. The ...
, in the Napier Mountains of
Enderby Land Enderby Land is a projecting landmass of Antarctica. Its shore extends from Shinnan Glacier at about to William Scoresby Bay at , approximately of the earth's longitude. It was first documented in western and eastern literature in February 18 ...
. Enderby Land is part of
East Antarctica East Antarctica, also called Greater Antarctica, constitutes the majority (two-thirds) of the Antarctic continent, lying on the Indian Ocean side of the continent, separated from West Antarctica by the Transantarctic Mountains. It lies almos ...
, and is
claimed "Claimed" is the eleventh episode of the fourth season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series '' The Walking Dead'', which aired on AMC on February 23, 2014. The episode was written by Nichole Beattie and Seth Hoffman, and directed b ...
by Australia as part of the
Australian Antarctic Territory The Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) is a part of East Antarctica claimed by Australia as an external territory. It is administered by the Australian Antarctic Division, an agency of the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the ...
. The mountain was named after
Terence James Elkins Terence James Elkins (born 8 March 1936) is an Australian-born American physicist. In 1960, he participated in an expedition from Mawson Station which conducted the first geological surveys of the Napier Mountains in Antarctica. The highest of th ...
, an ionospheric physicist with the
Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions The Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE ) is the historical name for the Australian Antarctic Program (AAp) administered for Australia by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). History Australia has had a long involv ...
at
Mawson Station The Mawson Station, commonly called Mawson, is one of three permanent bases and research outposts in Antarctica managed by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). Mawson lies in Holme Bay in Mac. Robertson Land, East Antarctica in the Austra ...
in 1960.


Location

Some notable geographic features in the general vicinity of Mount Elkins include
Cape Batterbee Cape Batterbee is a small, rocky point on the coast, the most northerly cape of Enderby Land. It is located 92 km north of Mount Elkins. Discovery and naming Cape Batterbee was discovered by BANZARE (1929–31) on 13 January 1930. Named ...
(92 km to the north), the Young Nunataks (7.4 km to the south), Sørtoppen Nunatak (30 km to the east), the
Newman Nunataks Newman Nunataks () These are a group of nunataks about 19 km west of Aker Peaks, and 26 km west of Mount Elkins, in Enderby Land, Antarctica. Their position was plotted from air photographs taken by ANARE in 1956 and 1960. They were nam ...
(26 km to the west), Mount McMaster (97 km to the west), and Mount Kjerringa (57 km to the northeast). The nearest permanently inhabited place is Mawson Station, an Australian research station to the southeast.
Molodyozhnaya Station Molodyozhnaya (russian: Молодёжная, ''"Youth"'') (also known as "Molodezhnaya") was a Soviet, then Russian research station in East Antarctica at 67°40′S 45°50′E. After being mothballed in 1990, it was reopened in 2006 to opera ...
, a former Soviet research station which was mothballed in 1989, is located to the southwest of Mount Elkins. Mount Elkins is the highest peak in the Napier Mountains. It is the highest peak in
Enderby Land Enderby Land is a projecting landmass of Antarctica. Its shore extends from Shinnan Glacier at about to William Scoresby Bay at , approximately of the earth's longitude. It was first documented in western and eastern literature in February 18 ...
.


Geology & orogeny

Much of the East Antarctic craton was formed in the
Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of th ...
period by a series of tectonothermal orogenic events. Napier orogeny formed the cratonic nucleus approximately 4 billion years ago. Mount Elkins is a classic example of Napier orogeny. Napier orogeny is characterized by high-grade
metamorphism Metamorphism is the transformation of existing rock (the protolith) to rock with a different mineral composition or texture. Metamorphism takes place at temperatures in excess of , and often also at elevated pressure or in the presence of ...
and
plate tectonics Plate tectonics (from the la, label= Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large t ...
. The orogenic events which resulted in the formation of the Napier Complex (including Mount Elkins) have been dated to the
Archean The Archean Eon ( , also spelled Archaean or Archæan) is the second of four eon (geology), geologic eons of History of Earth, Earth's history, representing the time from . The Archean was preceded by the Hadean Eon and followed by the Proterozo ...
Eon. Radiometrically dated to as old as 3.8 billion years, some of the
zircon Zircon () is a mineral belonging to the group of nesosilicates and is a source of the metal zirconium. Its chemical name is zirconium(IV) silicate, and its corresponding chemical formula is Zr SiO4. An empirical formula showing some of th ...
s collected from the orthogneisses of the Napier Complex are among the oldest rock specimens found on Earth. Billions of years of
erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is di ...
and tectonic deformation have exposed the
metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock ( protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, cau ...
core of these ancient mountains. The oldest crustal components found to date in the Napier Complex appear to be of
igneous Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma o ...
derivation. This rock appears to have been overprinted by an ultra-high temperature metamorphic event (UHT) that occurred near the Archean-Proterozoic boundary. Using a
lutetium Lutetium is a chemical element with the symbol Lu and atomic number 71. It is a silvery white metal, which resists corrosion in dry air, but not in moist air. Lutetium is the last element in the lanthanide series, and it is traditionally counted am ...
-
hafnium Hafnium is a chemical element with the symbol Hf and atomic number 72. A lustrous, silvery gray, tetravalent transition metal, hafnium chemically resembles zirconium and is found in many zirconium minerals. Its existence was predicted by D ...
(Lu-Hf) method to examine
garnet Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. All species of garnets possess similar physical properties and crystal forms, but differ in chemical composition. The different ...
,
orthopyroxene The pyroxenes (commonly abbreviated to ''Px'') are a group of important rock-forming inosilicate minerals found in many igneous and metamorphic rocks. Pyroxenes have the general formula , where X represents calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), iron (Fe II) ...
,
sapphirine Sapphirine is a rare mineral, a silicate of magnesium and aluminium with the chemical formula ( (with iron as a major impurity). Named for its sapphire-like colour, sapphirine is primarily of interest to researchers and collectors: well-formed c ...
,
osumilite Osumilite is a very rare potassium-sodium-iron-magnesium-aluminium silicate mineral. Osumilite is part of the milarite group (also known as the milarite-osumilite group) of cyclosilicates. Characteristics Osumilite chemical formula is .Don S. ...
and
rutile Rutile is an oxide mineral composed of titanium dioxide (TiO2), the most common natural form of TiO2. Rarer polymorphs of TiO2 are known, including anatase, akaogiite, and brookite. Rutile has one of the highest refractive indices at visible wa ...
from this UHT
granulite Granulites are a class of high-grade metamorphic rocks of the granulite facies that have experienced high-temperature and moderate-pressure metamorphism. They are medium to coarse–grained and mainly composed of feldspars sometimes associated ...
belt, Choi ''et al'' determined an isochron age of 2.4 billion years for this metamorphic event. Using SHRIMPU–Pb zircon dating methodology, Belyatsky ''et al'' determined the oldest tectonothermal event in the formation of the Napier Complex to have occurred approximately 2.8 billion years ago. Preservation of the UHT mineral assemblage in the analyzed rock suggests rapid cooling, with closure likely to have occurred for the Lu-Hf system at post-peak UHT conditions near a
closure temperature In radiometric dating, closure temperature or blocking temperature refers to the temperature of a system, such as a mineral, at the time given by its radiometric date. In physical terms, the closure temperature is the temperature at which a syste ...
of 800 °C. UHT granulites appear to have evolved in a low Lu-Hf environment, probably formed when the rocks were first extracted from a
mantle A mantle is a piece of clothing, a type of cloak. Several other meanings are derived from that. Mantle may refer to: *Mantle (clothing), a cloak-like garment worn mainly by women as fashionable outerwear **Mantle (vesture), an Eastern Orthodox ve ...
profoundly depleted in lithophile elements. The source materials for the
magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natura ...
s that formed the Napier Complex were extremely depleted relative to the chondritic uniform reservoir (CHUR). These results also suggest significant depletion of the early Archean mantle, in agreement with the early
igneous differentiation In geology, igneous differentiation, or magmatic differentiation, is an umbrella term for the various processes by which magmas undergo bulk chemical change during the partial melting process, cooling, emplacement, or eruption. The sequence of ...
of the Earth that the latest core formation models require.


Ecology

;Flora To date, no flora has been observed at Mount Elkins. ;Fauna The following species have been sighted within 1.0 degrees of Mount Elkins:


Significance to mountaineers

The summit of Mount Elkins is higher than that of any mountain in Australia—including even
Mount Kosciuszko Mount Kosciuszko ( ; Ngarigo language, Ngarigo: , ), previously spelled Mount Kosciusko, is mainland Australia (continent), Australia's tallest mountain, at 2,228 metres (7,310 ft) above sea level. It is located on the Main Range (Snowy M ...
(2,228 metres), which is one of the
Seven Summits The Seven Summits are the highest mountains of each of the seven traditional continents. Climbing to the summit of all of them is regarded as a mountaineering challenge, first achieved on 30 April 1985 by Richard Bass. Climbing the Seven Summits ...
. Because of its remoteness it has not become a popular target for
peak bagging Peak bagging or hill bagging is an activity in which Hiking, hikers, climbing, climbers, and Mountaineering, mountaineers attempt to reach a collection of summits, published in the form of a list. This activity has been popularized around the wor ...
.


Weather conditions

The Napier Mountains run northwest from Mount Elkins. To the east is a large valley formed by the
Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, h ...
and Wilma Glaciers. To the northeast are the Seaton and Rippon Glaciers. All of these glaciers run into the King Edward Ice Shelf. Other notable terrain features in this area include the Beaver Glacier, located to the west of Mount King. Collectively, these terrain features significantly modify weather produced by
synoptic scale The synoptic scale in meteorology (also known as large scale or cyclonic scale) is a horizontal length scale of the order of 1000 kilometers (about 620 miles) or more. This corresponds to a horizontal scale typical of mid-latitude depressions (e. ...
systems. Dramatic changes can occur over short distances and in short time intervals.


Nearby terrain features

Place names within 1.0 degrees of Mount Elkins (Latitude 66°40.0'S Longitude 54°09.0'E)


History

Mount Elkins was first mapped by Norwegian cartographers from aerial photographs taken by the
Lars Christensen Lars Christensen (6 April 1884 – 10 December 1965) was a Norwegian shipowner and whaling magnate. He was also a philanthropist with a keen interest in the exploration of Antarctica. Career Lars Christensen was born at Sandar in Vestfold, Nor ...
Expedition, 1936–37, and named at that time Jökelen (The Glacier). It was remapped by
ANARE The Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE ) is the historical name for the Australian Antarctic Program (AAp) administered for Australia by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). History Australia has had a long involv ...
from aerial photographs taken from an ANARE aircraft in 1956. The Napier Mountains were first visited by an ANARE survey party from Mawson Station in 1960. The survey party was led by
Syd Kirkby Sydney Lorrimar Kirkby, (born 1933) is an Australian surveyor and Antarctic explorer. Work Syd Kirkby was first appointed as Surveyor at Mawson Station for 1956, the third year of ANARE operations in Antarctica. Syd Kirkby was Surveyor and/or ...
, and included Terence James Elkins.


See also

*
History of Antarctica The history of Antarctica emerges from early Western theories of a vast continent, known as Terra Australis, believed to exist in the far south of the globe. The term ''Antarctic'', referring to the opposite of the Arctic Circle, was coined by Mar ...
* List of Antarctic expeditions *
Research stations in Antarctica Multiple governments have set up permanent research stations in Antarctica and these bases are widely distributed. Unlike the drifting ice stations set up in the Arctic, the research stations of the Antarctic are constructed either on rock or ...


References


Further reading

* ''Douglas Mawson, the Survivor'', by David Parer and Elizabeth Parer-Cook (Morwell, Victoria: Allela Books and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 1983). * ''Antarctic Days with Mawson : A Personal Account of the British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition of 1929-31'', by Harold Fletcher (Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1984). * ''Going to Extremes: Project Blizzard and Australia's Antarctic Heritage'' (Sydney: Doubleday, 1986). * ''International Law and Australian Sovereignty in Antarctica'', by Gillian Triggs (Sydney: Legal Books Pty Ltd, 1986). * ''Antarctic Science'', edited by DWH Walton, with contributions by CSM Doake, JR Dudley, I Everson and RM Laws (Cambridge; Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1987). * ''International Research in the Antarctic'', by Richard Fifield (Oxford: Oxford University Press for the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, 1987). * ''Antarctica: The Next Decade: Report of a Group Study Chaired by Sir Anthony Parsons (Studies in Polar Research)'', edited by Sir Anthony Parsons (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987). * ''Mawson's Antarctic Diaries'', edited by Fred and Eleanor Jacka (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1988). * ''Aurora Australis'', edited by E.H. Shackleton (Sydney: Bay Books, 1988). * ''Sitting on Penguins: People and Politics in Australian Antarctica'', by Stephen Murray-Smith (Surry Hills, NSW Hutchinson Australia, 1988). * ''Antarctica: The Extraordinary History of Man's Conquest of the Frozen Continent'' (Sydney: Reader's Digest, 1988). * ''A History of Antarctic Science'', by G E Fogg (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992). * ''The Australian Geographic Book of Antarctica'', by Keith Scott (Terrey Hills, New South Wales: Australian Geographic for the Australian Geographic Society, 1993). * ''A History of Antarctica'', by Stephen Martin (Sydney: State Library of New South Wales Press, 1996). * ''The Home of the Blizzard: The Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-14'', by Douglas Mawson (Kent Town, South Australia: Wakefield Press, 1996). * ''An Alien in Antarctica: Reflections upon Forty Years of Exploration and Research on the Frozen Continent'', by Charles Swithinbank (Blacksburg, Virginia: McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company, 1997). * ''A revised Archaean chronology for the Napier Complex, Enderby Land, from SHRIMP ion-microprobe studies'', S.L. Harley and L.P. Black, Antarctic Science (1997), 9: 74-91 Cambridge University Press. * ''The Silence Calling: Australians in Antarctica 1947-97: the ANARE Jubilee history'', by Tim Bowden (St Leonards, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin, 1997). * ''The Backpackers' Guide to ANARE Science'' (Kingston, Tas.: Australian Antarctic Division, 2000). * ''To the ends of the earth: the history of polar exploration'', by Richard Sale (London: HarperCollins, 2002). * ''Voyage to the end of the world: Tales from the Great Ice Barrier'', by David Burke (Annandale, NSW: Envirobook, 2002). * ''Australian Antarctic science: the first 50 years of ANARE'', edited by Harvey J. Marchant, Desmond J. Lugg and Patrick G. Quilty (Kingston, Tas.: Australian Antarctic Division, 2002). * ''End of the Earth: voyages to Antarctica'', by Peter Matthiessen (National Geographic Society, 2003).


External links


Australian Antarctic Division

Australian Antarctic Gazetteer

Australian Antarctic Names and Medals Committee (AANMC)

Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR)

PDF Map of the Australian Antarctic Territory

Mawson Station

ANARE Club

List of Peaks in Enderby Land


at the United States Antarctic Resource Center's Atlas of Antarctic Research.

Precambrian formation of the Antarctic craton, beginning with Napier orogenic events {{DEFAULTSORT:Elkins, Mount Mountains of Enderby Land