The Thomas Hills () are a linear group of hills, long, between

Foundation Ice Stream Foundation Ice Stream () is a major ice stream in the Pensacola Mountains of Antarctica. The ice stream drains northward for along the west side of the Patuxent Range and the Neptune Range to enter the Ronne Ice Shelf westward of Dufek Massi ...

and MacNamara Glacier at the north end of the

Patuxent Range The Patuxent Range () is a major range of the Pensacola Mountains, Antarctica. It comprises the Thomas Hills, Anderson Hills, Mackin Table and various nunataks and ridges bounded by the Foundation Ice Stream, Academy Glacier and the Patuxent I ...

in the

Pensacola Mountains The Pensacola Mountains () are a large group of mountain ranges and peaks that extend in a northeast–southwest direction in the Transantarctic Mountains System, Queen Elizabeth Land region of Antarctica. They comprise the Argentina Range, Forre ...

, Antarctica.

Exploration and name

The Thomas Hills were mapped by the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

(USGS) from surveys and from

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

air photos, 1956–66. They were 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) at the suggestion of Captain

Finn Ronne Finn Ronne (December 20, 1899 – January 12, 1980) was a Norwegian-born U.S. citizen and Antarctic explorer. Background Finn Ronne was born in Horten, in Vestfold county, Norway. His father, Martin Rønne (1861–1932), was a polar explorer ...

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

, leader at

Ellsworth Station Ellsworth Scientific Station (, or simply ''Estación Ellsworth'' or ''Base Ellsworth'') was a permanent, all year-round originally American, then Argentine Antarctic scientific research station named after American polar explorer Lincoln Ellswo ...

, 1957. Charles S. Thomas was

United States Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the United States Department of the Navy, Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On Mar ...

, 1954–57, during the first few years of United States Navy

Operation Deep Freeze Operation Deep Freeze is the code name 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 was an init ...

Location

The Thomas Hills run in a northeast direction between the

and the MacNamara Glacier. They parallel the Anderson Hills on the south side of the MacNamara Glacier. Features, from west to east, include Mount Yarbrough, Nance Ridge, Martin Peak and Mount Warnke.

Features

Mount Yarbrough

. A ridge-like mountain, high, standing southwest of Nance Ridge. Named by US-ACAN for Leonard S. Yarbrough, industrial engineer at Plateau Station, 1965-66.

Nance Ridge

. A rock ridge northeast of Mount Yarbrough. Named by US-ACAN for Vernon L. Nance, radioman at Palmer Station, winter 1966.

Martin Peak

. A peak, high, standing northeast of Nance Ridge. Named by US-ACAN for Christopher Martin, biologist at Palmer Station, 1966-67.

Mount Warnke

. A mountain, high, standing northeast of Martin Peak. Named by US-ACAN for Detlef A. Warnke, biologist at Palmer Station, 1966-67.

References

Sources

* * * {{Authority control Hills of Queen Elizabeth Land Pensacola Mountains