The Colbert Hills () are a line of hills and bluffs, including Coalsack Bluff, lying east of Lewis Cliffs, between

Law Glacier Lennox-King Glacier is a large valley glacier, about long, draining Bowden Névé and flowing northeast between the Holland Range and the Queen Alexandra Range of Antarctica to enter Richards Inlet, Ross Ice Shelf. It was named by the New Zealand ...

and

Walcott Névé Lennox-King Glacier is a large valley glacier, about long, draining Bowden Névé and flowing northeast between the Holland Range and the Queen Alexandra Range of Antarctica to enter Richards Inlet, Ross Ice Shelf The Ross Ice Shelf is th ...

in Antarctica. The hills trend southwest for from Mount Sirius.

Exploration and name

The Colbert Hills are named for Edwin H. Colbert, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History, leader of the paleontology team with the Ohio State University Geological Expedition, 1969–70, which discovered ''

Lystrosaurus ''Lystrosaurus'' (; 'shovel lizard'; proper Greek is λίστρον ''lístron'' ‘tool for leveling or smoothing, shovel, spade, hoe’) is an extinct genus of herbivorous dicynodont therapsids from the late Permian and Early Triassic epochs (a ...

'' fossils in these hills. The discovery is one of the truly significant fossil finds, with great implications on calculations concerning

Gondwanaland Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...

Location

The Colbert Hills are to the east of the Antarctic Plateau and south of

, which separates them from the Queen Elizabeth Range. The

is to the south, and the Queen Alexandra Range to the east. Features include Coalsack Bluff, Bauhs Nunatak and Mount Sirius. Nearby features to the west include Jacobs Nunatak, Morse Nunataks, MacAlpine Hills and Mount Achernar.

Features

Coalsack Bluff

. A small rock bluff standing at the northern limits of Walcott Neve, west-southwest of Bauhs Nunatak. So named by the New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition (NZGSAE) (1961–62) because of the coal seams found running through the bluff.

Bauhs Nunatak

. A prominent nunatak, high, at the north side of Walcott Névé, about south-southeast of Mount Sirius. Named by the 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 Luvern R. Bauhs, United States ArmyRP ionospheric scientist at South Pole Station, 1959.

Mount Sirius

. A peak, high, surmounting a prominent, wedge-shaped, ice-free spur between Walcott Névé and Bowden Névé, north of Bauhs Nunatak. Named by the NZGSAE (1961–62) for the star Sirius which was used in fixing the baseline in the area.

Nearby features

Jacobs Nunatak

. A nunatak on the west side of Mac Alpine Hills, just west of the head of Sylwester Glacier. Named by US-ACAN for Willis S. Jacobs, USARP geomagnetist and seismologist at South Pole Station, 1959.

Morse Nunataks

. Isolated rock nunataks standing south of Mount Achernar, between Lewis Cliff and MacAlpine Hills. Named by US-ACAN for Oliver C. Morse III, USARP ionospheric scientist at South Pole Station, 1960.

MacAlpine Hills

. A chain of mainly ice-free, bluff-type hills extending from Mount Achernar southwest along the south side of Law Glacier, to

Sylwester Glacier Lennox-King Glacier is a large valley glacier, about long, draining Bowden Névé and flowing northeast between the Holland Range and the Queen Alexandra Range of Antarctica to enter Richards Inlet, Ross Ice Shelf. It was named by the New Zeal ...

. Named by US-ACAN for Ens. Kenneth D. MacAlpine, United States Navy Reserve. A member of United States Navy Squadron VX-6, MacAlpine was injured in an airplane crash at McMurdo Sound, October 1956.

Mount Achernar

. A peak forming the northeast end of Mac Alpine Hills, on the south side of Law Glacier. Named by the NZGSAE (1961–62) after the star Achemar used in fixing the survey baseline.

Lewis Cliff

. An irregular cliff, about long, extending south from Mount Achernar along the west side of Walcott Névé. Named by US-ACAN for Richard E. Lewis, Aviation Electronics Technician, United States Navy, who was injured during United States Navy Operation Deep Freeze II, 1956–57.

References

Sources

* * *{{Include-USGov , agency=United States Geological Survey Hills of Oates Land