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The Framnes Mountains is a group of
Antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...
mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...
s in
Mac. Robertson Land Mac. Robertson Land is the portion of Antarctica lying southward of the coast between William Scoresby Bay and Cape Darnley. It is located at . In the east, Mac. Robertson Land includes the Prince Charles Mountains. It was named by the Britis ...
, to the south of the
Mawson Coast The Mawson Coast is that portion of the coast of Mac. Robertson Land, Antarctica, lying between William Scoresby Bay, at 59°34′E, and Murray Monolith, at 66°54′E. The coast was sighted during the British Australian New Zealand Antarctic Res ...
. The range is surrounded by, and largely covered by, an ice sheet.


Discovery

The three major ranges and other lesser features were sighted and named in February 1931 by the
British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition The British Australian (and) New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) was a research expedition into Antarctica between 1929 and 1931, involving two voyages over consecutive Austral summers. It was a British Commonwealth initiative, d ...
under
Douglas Mawson Sir Douglas Mawson (5 May 1882 – 14 October 1958) was a British-born Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer, and academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, he was a key expedition leader during ...
. This coast was also sighted by Norwegian whalers in the same season. The whole area was mapped in detail by Norwegian cartographers from aerial photographs taken by the
Lars Christensen Expedition Lars is a common male name in Scandinavian countries. Origin ''Lars'' means "from the city of Laurentum". Lars is derived from the Latin name Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum" or "crowned with laurel", and is therefore related to the name ...
in January 1937. This overall name for the several ranges was given by
Lars Christensen Lars Christensen (6 April 1884 – 10 December 1965) was a Norway, Norwegian shipowner and whaling magnate. He was also a philanthropist with a keen interest in the exploration of Antarctica. Career Lars Christensen was born at Sandar, Norway, S ...
after Framnesfjellet, a hill near
Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Sandefjord ...
,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
. The first person to land in the area was Dr.
Phillip Law Phillip Garth Law, AC, CBE, FAA, FTSE (21 April 1912 – 28 February 2010) was an Australian scientist and explorer who served as director of Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) from 1949 to 1966. Early life Law was ...
in February 1954. He chose the site for the
Mawson Station Mawson Station, commonly called Mawson, is one of three permanent bases and research outposts in Antarctica managed by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). Mawson lies in Holme Bay in Mac. Robertson Land, East Antarctica in the Australian ...
on the coast to the north of the Framnes Mountains for the
Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions The Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE ) is the historical name for the Australia: Antarctic Program#Australian Antarctic program, Australian Antarctic Program (AAP) administered for Australia by the Australian Antarctic D ...
(ANARE). Australia has occupied Mawson Station continuously since then.


Appearance

The Framnes Mountains have elevations up to above
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...
, and rise up to above the ice surface. They have dark, weathered
charnockite Charnockite () is any orthopyroxene-bearing quartz-feldspar rock formed at high temperature and pressure, commonly found in granulite facies’ metamorphic regions, ''sensu stricto'' as an endmember of the charnockite series. Charnockite seri ...
bedrock that is littered with light-coloured quartz-rich, granitic gneiss glacial erratics. The range is surrounded by, and largely covered by, an ice sheet. Only the peaks are visible.


Geology

The geology of the Framnes Mountains is very similar to that of the
Eastern Ghats The Eastern Ghats is a mountain range that stretches along the East Coast of India, eastern coast of the Indian peninsula. Covering an area of , it traverses the states and union territories of India, states of Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Prade ...
in India, which lay beside the
Mawson Coast The Mawson Coast is that portion of the coast of Mac. Robertson Land, Antarctica, lying between William Scoresby Bay, at 59°34′E, and Murray Monolith, at 66°54′E. The coast was sighted during the British Australian New Zealand Antarctic Res ...
before
Gondwana Gondwana ( ; ) was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia (continent), Australia, Zea ...
broke up. The mountains are mostly formed of
charnockite Charnockite () is any orthopyroxene-bearing quartz-feldspar rock formed at high temperature and pressure, commonly found in granulite facies’ metamorphic regions, ''sensu stricto'' as an endmember of the charnockite series. Charnockite seri ...
, a homogeneous brown rock similar to
granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
that mainly consists of
potassium feldspar Potassium feldspar refers to a number of minerals in the feldspar group that contain large amounts of potassium in the crystal lattice. *Orthoclase (endmember formula K Al Si3 O8), an important tectosilicate mineral that forms igneous rock *Microcl ...
,
quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...
and
pyroxene The pyroxenes (commonly abbreviated Px) are a group of important rock-forming inosilicate minerals found in many igneous and metamorphic rocks. Pyroxenes have the general formula , where X represents ions of calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), iron ( ...
. These rocks were formed about 960 million years ago at a depth of about as a molten mass within older metamorphosed sedimentary rocks.
Glacial erratic A glacial erratic is a glacially deposited rock (geology), rock differing from the type of country rock (geology), rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word ' ("to wander"), are carried by gla ...
boulders of light-colored
granitic A granitoid is a broad term referring to a diverse group of coarse-grained igneous rocks that are widely distributed across the globe, covering a significant portion of the Earth's exposed surface and constituting a large part of the continental ...
gneiss Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ...
cover the lower slopes of
Mount Henderson Mount Henderson may refer to one of several various mountains, including: in Antarctica: * Mount Henderson (White Island) * Mount Henderson (Britannia Range) * Mount Henderson (Holme Bay) elsewhere: * Mount Henderson (Washington), in the Olym ...
, the
David Range The David Range ( is a mountain range that extends for in the Framnes Mountains of Mac.Robertson Land in Antarctica. The range is surrounded by, and largely covered by, an ice sheet. Only the peaks are visible. Discovery The range was first s ...
and
Mount Hordern Mount Hordern () is a peak, high, standing south of Mount Coates in the David Range of Antarctica. It was discovered in February 1931 by the British Australian New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition under Mawson, and named for Sir Samuel H ...
, but are not found more than about above the present-day ice surface. Above this level the darker
charnockite Charnockite () is any orthopyroxene-bearing quartz-feldspar rock formed at high temperature and pressure, commonly found in granulite facies’ metamorphic regions, ''sensu stricto'' as an endmember of the charnockite series. Charnockite seri ...
bedrock is exposed. Probably the boulders were transported from the south and deposited by ice during the last
glacial maximum An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...
, while the exposed bedrock would have remained above the ice. The charnockite contains regions up to wide of the older
metamorphosed Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causi ...
sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock formed by the cementation (geology), cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or de ...
, one of which includes most of the Casey Range. Painted Peak in the North Masson Range is an example, composed of rocks that were metamorphosed and deformed 1200 to 1000 million years ago. They include interlayered, metamorphosed
arkose Arkose () or arkosic sandstone is a detrital sedimentary rock, specifically a type of sandstone containing at least 25% feldspar. Arkosic sand is sand that is similarly rich in feldspar, and thus the potential precursor of arkose. Components ...
,
metapelite A pelite () or metapelite is a metamorphosed fine-grained sedimentary rock, i.e. mudstone or siltstone. The term was earlier used by geologists to describe a clay-rich, fine-grained clastic sediment or sedimentary rock, i.e. mud or a mudstone, t ...
, calcsilicates and
granitic A granitoid is a broad term referring to a diverse group of coarse-grained igneous rocks that are widely distributed across the globe, covering a significant portion of the Earth's exposed surface and constituting a large part of the continental ...
gneiss Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ...
. Common minerals in the metamorphosed sedimentary rocks include
cordierite Cordierite (mineralogy) or iolite (gemology) is a magnesium iron aluminium cyclosilicate. Iron is almost always present, and a solid solution exists between Mg-rich cordierite and Fe-rich sekaninaite with a series formula: to . A high-tempera ...
,
sillimanite Sillimanite or fibrolite is an aluminosilicate mineral with the chemical formula Al2SiO5. Sillimanite is named after the American chemist Benjamin Silliman (1779–1864). It was first described in 1824 for an occurrence in Chester, Connecticut ...
,
spinel Spinel () is the magnesium/aluminium member of the larger spinel group of minerals. It has the formula in the cubic crystal system. Its name comes from the Latin word , a diminutive form of ''spine,'' in reference to its pointed crystals. Prop ...
,
garnet Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. Garnet minerals, while sharing similar physical and crystallographic properties, exhibit a wide range of chemical compositions, de ...
and
biotite Biotite is a common group of phyllosilicate minerals within the mica group, with the approximate chemical formula . It is primarily a solid-solution series between the iron- endmember annite, and the magnesium-endmember phlogopite; more al ...
.


Glaciation

The
East Antarctic Ice Sheet The East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) lies between 45th meridian west, 45° west and 168th meridian east, 168° east longitudinally. It was first formed around 34 million years ago, and it is the largest ice sheet on the entire planet, with far gre ...
(EAIS) formed about 34 million years ago, and seems to have persisted since then with periodic fluctuations in thickness between glacial and inter-glacial cycles. During the last glacial cycle the ice sheet thickened more near the coast, less further inland. This is shown by the upper limit of glacial erratic boulders, ranging from on Fang Peak near the sea in the north of
David Range The David Range ( is a mountain range that extends for in the Framnes Mountains of Mac.Robertson Land in Antarctica. The range is surrounded by, and largely covered by, an ice sheet. Only the peaks are visible. Discovery The range was first s ...
, to on
Mount Hordern Mount Hordern () is a peak, high, standing south of Mount Coates in the David Range of Antarctica. It was discovered in February 1931 by the British Australian New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition under Mawson, and named for Sir Samuel H ...
, which is about from the sea. The ice surface appears have lowered by several hundred meters during the present
interglacial An interglacial period (or alternatively interglacial, interglaciation) is a geological interval of warmer global average temperature lasting thousands of years that separates consecutive glacial periods within an ice age. The current Holocene i ...
. ANARE conducted glaciological surveys in the late 1950s between Fischer Nunatak and the Casey Range, where they found that the ice was about thick, and flowed at a rate of per year. The David and Masson ranges divide the ice flow in the Framnes Mountains into three outlet glacial streams, which cover an area of about . They carry ice from the East Antarctic ice sheet into
Holme Bay Holme Bay is a bay in Antarctica in Mac. Robertson Land, wide, containing many islands, indenting the coast north of the Framnes Mountains. Holme Bay is largely Antarctic oasis, snow-free and was mapped by Norway, Norwegian cartographers from ae ...
. Ice surface velocities of per year have been measured in the
ice stream An ice stream is a region of fast-moving ice within an ice sheet. It is a type of glacier, a body of ice that moves under its own weight. They can move upwards of a year, and can be up to in width, and hundreds of kilometers in length. They t ...
to the east of the David Range, and per year in the ice stream to the west.


Lakes

The Framnes Mountains contain perennially frozen freshwater glacial lakes, some over deep. These are isolated from the surrounding ice sheet by moats of melt water and granular ice above the perennial ice. The perennial ice within the moat is slightly elevated above the moat. In the summer months snow banks that formed in the winter on nearby rocky banks melt and feed streams that drain into the lake. With lakes like Patterned Lake in the north end of the Central Masson Range there does not seem to be any drainage on or below the surface, so water is lost only through evaporation. There are diverse biological communities in a series of deep epiglacial lakes in the Framnes Mountains about inland from Mawson Station. These lakes are covered by as much as of permanent ice, so have no contact with the atmosphere. Their temperature is less than , they are slightly brackish and are oxygenated throughout. They are
basic Basic or BASIC may refer to: Science and technology * BASIC, a computer programming language * Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base * Basic access authentication, in HTTP Entertainment * Basic (film), ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film ...
with high pH readings of 10.5 to 11.0. Based on
chlorophyll Chlorophyll is any of several related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants. Its name is derived from the Greek words (, "pale green") and (, "leaf"). Chlorophyll allows plants to absorb energy ...
content their biomass is low to moderate. One lake had a
cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria ( ) are a group of autotrophic gram-negative bacteria that can obtain biological energy via oxygenic photosynthesis. The name "cyanobacteria" () refers to their bluish green (cyan) color, which forms the basis of cyanobacteri ...
l mat under the ice with a community of grazing animals that included
nematode The nematodes ( or ; ; ), roundworms or eelworms constitute the phylum Nematoda. Species in the phylum inhabit a broad range of environments. Most species are free-living, feeding on microorganisms, but many are parasitic. Parasitic worms (h ...
s,
tardigrade Tardigrades (), known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals. They were first described by the German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773, who called them . In 1776, th ...
s and perhaps
copepod Copepods (; meaning 'oar-feet') are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (living in the water column), some are benthos, benthic (living on the sedimen ...
s. The dominant grazers in other lakes were
rotifer The rotifers (, from Latin 'wheel' and 'bearing'), sometimes called wheel animals or wheel animalcules, make up a phylum (Rotifera ) of microscopic and near-microscopic Coelom#Pseudocoelomates, pseudocoelomate animals. They were first describ ...
s.


Features

The Framnes Mountains consist of Casey Range,
Masson Range The Masson Range is a high broken chain of mountains, consisting primarily of the North Masson, Central Masson and South Masson Ranges, forming a part of the Framnes Mountains. Physical The Masson Range has several peaks over . The highest p ...
,
David Range The David Range ( is a mountain range that extends for in the Framnes Mountains of Mac.Robertson Land in Antarctica. The range is surrounded by, and largely covered by, an ice sheet. Only the peaks are visible. Discovery The range was first s ...
, and Brown Range, and adjacent peaks and mountains. The east of the Framnes Mountains, from north to south, contains the
Mount Henderson Mount Henderson may refer to one of several various mountains, including: in Antarctica: * Mount Henderson (White Island) * Mount Henderson (Britannia Range) * Mount Henderson (Holme Bay) elsewhere: * Mount Henderson (Washington), in the Olym ...
massif,
Masson Range The Masson Range is a high broken chain of mountains, consisting primarily of the North Masson, Central Masson and South Masson Ranges, forming a part of the Framnes Mountains. Physical The Masson Range has several peaks over . The highest p ...
,
Trilling Peaks Trilling Peaks () is a group of linear nunataks, comprising three main peaks standing three miles south of South Masson Range in the Framnes Mountains, Mac. Robertson Land. Exploration Trilling Peaks was mapped by Norwegian cartographers from a ...
and Shark Peak. The central section from north to south holds the
David Range The David Range ( is a mountain range that extends for in the Framnes Mountains of Mac.Robertson Land in Antarctica. The range is surrounded by, and largely covered by, an ice sheet. Only the peaks are visible. Discovery The range was first s ...
, Butler Nunataks and Brown Range. The Casey Range is west of the David Range.


Mount Henderson massif

. A massive mountain, , rising through the ice sheet southeast of Holme Bay and a like distance northeast of the north end of the Masson Range. Discovered in February 1931 by the BANZARE under Mawson, who named it after W. Henderson, Director of the Australian Department of External Affairs and a member of the Australian Antarctic Committee in 1929.


Masson Range

. A high broken chain of mountains, consisting primarily of North Masson, Central Masson, and South Masson Ranges, forming a part of the Framnes Mountains. Having several peaks over , the range extends in a north-south direction for . Discovered and charted by the BANZARE, 1929–31, under Mawson, and named for Professor Sir David Orme Masson, a member of the Advisory Committee for this expedition as well as the AAE, 1911–14, under Mawson. First visited by an ANARE party led by
John Béchervaise John Mayston Béchervaise (11 May 1910 – 13 July 1998) was an Australian writer, photographer, artist, historian and explorer. He is especially notable for his work and achievements in Antarctica. Career Béchervaise was educated in Melb ...
in 1956.


Trilling Peaks

. A group of linear
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 ...
s comprising three main peaks standing south S of the South Masson Range in the Framnes Mountains, Mac. Robertson Land. Mapped by Norwegian cartographers from air photos taken by the Lars Christensen Expedition, 1936–37, and named Trillingnutane (the triplet peaks). Not: Trillingnutane.


Shark Peak

. An isolated nunatak south-southwest of
Van Hulssen Nunatak Van Hulssen Nunatak () is a nunatak at the south end of the Trilling Peaks in the Framnes Mountains, Mac. Robertson Land. It was mapped by Norwegian cartographers from air photos taken by the Lars Christensen Expedition, 1936–37, and was named by ...
in the Framnes Mountains. Mapped by Norwegian cartographers from air photos taken by the Lars Christensen Expedition, 1936–37, and named Hånuten (the shark peak). The translated form of the name recommended by ANCA has been adopted.


David Range

. A range west of Masson Range, which it parallels, in the Framnes Mountains. It extends in a north-northeast – south-southwest direction, with peaks rising to 1,500 meters. Discovered on 14 February 1931 by the BANZARE under Mawson, who named it for Professor Sir T.W. Edgeworth David.


Butler Nunataks

. A small group of nunataks immediately north of Mount Twintop in the Framnes Mountains. Mapped from ANARE surveys of 1954–62. Named by ANCA for W.J. Butler, senior diesel mechanic at Mawson Station in 1967.


Sørtindane Peaks or Brown Range

. A group of peaks just south of Mount Twintop at the south end of the David Range, Framnes Mountains. Mapped by Norwegian cartographers from air photos taken by the Lars Christensen Expedition (1936–37) and named Sortindane (the southern peaks). Not: Brown Range, Gory Sørtindane.


Casey Range

. A jagged, razor-backed ridge and a few nunataks in a line extending north–south, standing west of David Range, in the Framnes Mountains. Discovered by the BANZARE, 1929–31, under Mawson, who named it for Rt. Hon. Richard G. Casey.


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * {{Authority control Mountain ranges of Mac. Robertson Land