The McCuddin Mountains are a small cluster of

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 (topography), summit area, and ...

s in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

consisting mainly of two large mountains, Mount Flint and Mount Petras, along with several scattered peaks and

nunatak A nunatak (from Inuit ''nunataq'') is the summit or ridge of a mountain that protrudes from an ice field or glacier that otherwise covers most of the mountain or ridge. They are also called glacial islands. Examples are natural pyramidal peaks. ...

s. Located 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 ...

, east of the Ames Range, with Wallace Rock as its southeast extremity. The mountains were discovered and photographed from the air in a flight from West Base of the U.S. Antarctic Service on Dec. 14, 1940. They were mapped by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1959-65. 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 Rear Admiral Leo B. McCuddin, U.S. Navy (USN), Commander of the U.S. Naval Support Force, Antarctica, 1972.

Mount Flint

Mount Flint () is a prominent rounded and mainly snow-covered mountain, , standing NW of Mount Petras. The feature was observed from aircraft of the U.S. Antarctic Service (USAS) in Flight G, Dec. 15, 1940, and was briefly referred to as "Mount Gray". Asher Peak is a peak in the south west portion of the mountain. It was mapped in detail by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), 1959-65. Named by US-ACAN for Robert B. Flint, Jr., U.S. Antarctic Research Program (USARP) scientist on high latitude geophysical and geomagnetic phenomena. Flint wintered over 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 ...

, 1964,

Plateau Station Plateau Station is an inactive American research and South Pole—Queen Maud Land Traverse support base on the central Antarctic Plateau. Construction on the site started on December 13, 1965, and the first traverse team (named SPQML II) arri ...

where he was scientific leader, 1966, and Vostok Station where he was U.S. Exchange Scientist, 1974.

Gillick Rock

Gillick Rock () is an isolated rock nunatak lying at the northwest end of the McCuddin Mountains, 8 nautical miles (15 km) north of the summit of Mount Flint. Mapped by

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

(USGS) from ground surveys and U.S. Navy tricamera aerial photographs, 1959-66. Named by US-ACAN for Lieutenant Thomas L. Gillick,

U.S. Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

, helicopter pilot who flew close support for

United States Antarctic Research Program The United States Antarctic Program (or USAP; formerly known as the United States Antarctic Research Program or USARP and the United States Antarctic Service or USAS) is an organization of the United States government which has presence in the A ...

(USARP) scientists during

Operation Deep Freeze Operation Deep Freeze (OpDFrz or ODF) is codename for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on. (There w ...

1970 and 1971.

Mount Petras

Mount Petras Mount Petras is a mountain in Antarctica. It consists of volcanic rocks, most of Cretaceous age but there is also an Eocene-Oligocene volcanic system that may have been emplaced inside of thin ice. It is part of the Marie Byrd Land Volcanic Provin ...

() is a high, prominent, ridge-shaped mountain, , standing southeast of Mount Flint. It was discovered by the

US Antarctic Service The United States Antarctic Program (or USAP; formerly known as the United States Antarctic Research Program or USARP and the United States Antarctic Service or USAS) is an organization of the United States government which has presence in the A ...

(USAS) on a flight from

West Base West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

on December 15, 1940, and named for Theodore A. Petras, master technical sergeant, USMC, pilot of the airplane, a Beechcraft 5PCLB, Model D-17-A, SN357 REG NC20778 on this flight with Dr. Siple.

Navarette Peak

Navarrette Peak () is a rock

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)-di ...

marking the southwest extremity of the

massif, in the McCuddin Mountains of

. Mapped by

(USGS) from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1959–69. Named by

(US-ACAN) for Captain

Claude Navarrette Claude may refer to: __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...

, U.S. Navy, Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff to the Commander, U.S. Naval Support Force, Antarctica, during

1972. He also served on the staff during 1969 and 1970.

Schwob Peak

Schwob Peak () is a

standing located south of Mount Petras. Mapped by

(USGS) from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1959-65. Named by US-ACAN for Captain William S. Schwob, USCG,

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of USCGC ''Southwind'' during

1972.

References