The Insel Range () is a series of ice-free flat-topped peaks resembling islands which rise above the surrounding terrain and separate

McKelvey Valley McKelvey Valley () is a valley between the western part of the Olympus Range and the Insel Range, in Victoria Land, Antarctica. Exploration and naming The McKelvey Valley was named by the Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expedition ( ...

from Balham Valley, in

Victoria Land Victoria Land is a region in eastern Antarctica which fronts the western side of the Ross Sea and the Ross Ice Shelf, extending southward from about 70°30'S to 78th parallel south, 78°00'S, and westward from the Ross Sea to the edge of the Ant ...

, Antarctica. It was so named by the

Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expedition The Antarctic Research Centre (ARC) is part of the School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences at Victoria University of Wellington. Its mission is to research " Antarctic climate history and processes, and their influence on the global cl ...

(VUWAE, 1958–59) because of the resemblance to islands.

Location

The Insel Range is separated from the

Olympus Range The Olympus Range () is a primarily ice-free mountain range of Victoria Land, Antarctica, with peaks over high, between Victoria Valley and McKelvey Valley on the north and Wright Valley on the south. It is south of the Clare Range and north o ...

to the south by the

. To the north it is separated from the Apocalypse Peaks by the Balham Valley, and from the

Clare Range The Clare Range () is the range extending west-southwest from Sperm Bluff to the Willett Range on the south side of Mackay Glacier, in Victoria Land, Antarctica. It is south of the Convoy Range and north of the Olympus Range. Exploration and na ...

by the Barwick Valley. To the northeast it is separated from the

Saint Johns Range Saint Johns Range () is a crescent-shaped mountain range about long, in Victoria Land, Antarctica. It is bounded on the north by the Cotton Glacier, Miller Glacier and Debenham Glacier, and on the south by Victoria Valley and the Victoria Upper G ...

by the

Victoria Valley Victoria Valley () is an extensive ice-free valley, formerly occupied by a large glacier, extending from Victoria Upper Glacier to Victoria Lower Glacier in Victoria Land, Antarctica. It is one of the larger McMurdo Dry Valleys. Name Victoria V ...

. The highest point in the range is Mount Insel.

Features

Mount Insel

. The highest point in the northeast part of the Insel Range. Named by the VUWAE (1958-59) in association with Insel Range.

Bullseye Lake

. A very small pond lying near the center of an elliptical depression in the Insel Range, northeast of Mount Boreas. The name was applied in 1964 by American geologist Parker E. Calkin and is apparently descriptive of its position and small size.

Green Mesa

An ice-free mesa of extent, located west-southwest of Canfield Mesa in the west part of Insel Range. Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) (1997) after William J. Green, School of Interdisciplinary Studies, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, who from the 1968-69 season made studies of lakes and streams in Taylor Valley and Wright Valley, including a geochemical analysis of the Onyx River and Lake Vanda with Donald E. Canfield (Canfield Mesa) in 1980-81, 1986-87, and 1987-88; co-editor (with E. Imre Friedmann) of Physical and Biogeochemical Processes in Antarctic Lakes, Antarctic Research Series, Vol. 59, American Geophysical Union, 1993.

Canfield Mesa

An ice-free mesa of extent, located east-northeast of Green Mesa in the west part of Insel Range. Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) (1997) after Donald E. Canfield, School of Interdisciplinary Studies, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, who made a geochemical analysis of the Onyx River and Lake Vanda with William J. Green (Green Mesa) in the 1980-81, 1986-87, and 1987-88 field seasons.

Halzen Mesa

An oblong islandlike mesa, long and rising to , that is the largest and eastmost of three mesas in the Insel Range. The upper surface is relatively level but the periphery is marked by abrupt cliffs that rise high above the floor of Barwick Valley and McKelvey Valley. Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) (2005) after Francis Halzen, Physics Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, who (1988) conceived of AMANDA, the Antarctic muon and neutrino detector array at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station; United States Antarctic Project (United States ArmyP) principal investigator in a project to build the “IceCube” neutrino telescope at the South Pole Station in six field seasons beginning 2004-05.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{Include-USGov , agency=United States Geological Survey Mountain ranges of Victoria Land McMurdo Dry Valleys