Schmidt Hills () is a group of rock hills, long, lying north of

Childs Glacier 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 Mass ...

and west of Roderick Valley in the

Neptune Range The Neptune Range () is a mountain range, long, lying west-southwest of Forrestal Range in the central part of the Pensacola Mountains, Antarctica. The range comprises Washington Escarpment with its associated ridges, valleys and peaks, the Iro ...

of 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.

Mapping and name

The Schmidt 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

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 and 1956–1966. 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) for Dwight L. Schmidt, USGS geologist to the Pensacola Mountains in 1962–63, 1963–64 and 1965–66.

Location

The Schmidt Hills are in the northwest of the Neptune Range on the east side of the

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 ...

near the point where it joins the Ronne Ice Shelf. They are north of the Williams Hills and west of the northern end of the

Washington Escarpment The Neptune Range () is a mountain range, long, lying west-southwest of Forrestal Range in the central part of the Pensacola Mountains, Antarctica. The range comprises Washington Escarpment with its associated ridges, valleys and peaks, the Ir ...

, from which they are separated by the

Roderick Valley Schmidt Hills () is a group of rock hills, long, lying north of Childs Glacier and west of Roderick Valley in the Neptune Range of the Pensacola Mountains, Antarctica. Mapping and name The Schmidt Hills were mapped by the United States Geologi ...

. Features include, from south to north, Mount Gorecki, Mount Coulter, Mount Nervo, Pepper Peak, Robbins Nunatak and Wall Rock.

Features

Mount Gorecki

. A mountain, high, at the southeast extremity of Schmidt Hills. It was discovered and photographed on January 13, 1956 on a United States Navy transcontinental non-stop plane flight from McMurdo sound to Weddell Sea and return. It was named by US-ACAN for aviation electronics technician Francis Gorecki, radioman of the P2V-2N aircraft making the flight.

Mount Coulter

. A mountain northwest of Mount Gorecki. It was named by US-ACAN for LeRoy G. Coulter, cook 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 ...

, winter 1958.

Mount Nervo

. A mountain, high, standing north of Mount Coulter. The mountain was named by US-ACAN for George W. Nervo, radioman at Ellsworth Station, winter 1958.

Pepper Peak

. A sharp peak, high, standing north of Mount Nervo. It was named by US-ACAN for Clifford G. Pepper, hospital corpsman at Ellsworth Station, winter 1958.

Robbins Nunatak

. A conspicuous

nunatak A nunatak (from Inuit language, Inuit ) 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 often form natural pyramidal peaks. Isolated nunataks are also cal ...

northeast of Mount Gorecki. It was named by US-ACAN for Edward J. Robbins, aerographer at Ellsworth Station, winter 1958.

Wall Rock

. A rock north of Robbins Nunatak. The rock was named by US-ACAN for John Wall, a member of the Electronic Test Unit in the Pensacola Mountains, 1957–58.

Roderick Valley

. A large ice-filled valley trending in a north-south direction and separating Schmidt Hills and Williams Hills from the main mass of the Neptune Range. It was named by US-ACAN for Captain David W. Roderick, United States Air Force, pilot and second in command of the Electronic Test Unit in the Pensacola Mountains, 1957–58.

References

Sources

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