The Clare Range () is the range extending west-southwest from Sperm Bluff to the

Willett Range The Willett Range () is the range extending north from Mistake Peak and running for as a high shelf along the edge of the continental ice to the Mackay Glacier, in Victoria Land. The range is breached by several glaciers flowing east from the p ...

on the south side of

Mackay Glacier Mackay Glacier () is a large glacier in Victoria Land, descending eastward from the Antarctic Plateau, between the Convoy Range and Clare Range, into the southern part of Granite Harbour. It was discovered by the South magnetic pole party of the B ...

, 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 is south of the Convoy Range and north of 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 ...

Exploration and name

The Clare Range was circumnavigated in 1957 by the New Zealand Northern Survey Party of the

Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition The Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (CTAE) of 1955–1958 was a Commonwealth-sponsored expedition that successfully completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica, via the South Pole. It was the first expedition to reach the South ...

(CTAE; 1956–58), and named by them after

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

, England.

Location

The Clare Range runs in an east-northeast direction to the south of the Frazier Glacier and

. The

is to its east. The head of the Webb Glacier and Victoria Upper Névé separate it from the

Cruzen Range The Cruzen Range () is a mountain range that rises to in Vashka Crag and extends west to east for between Salyer Ledge and Nickell Peak in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Victoria Land, Antarctica. The range is bounded to north, east, south and west ...

to the south. The eastern part of the range is north of 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 ...

and

Cotton Glacier Wilson Piedmont Glacier () is a large piedmont glacier extending from Granite Harbour to Marble Point on the coast of Victoria Land. Discovery and name The Wilson Piedmont Glacier was discovered by the ''Discovery'' expedition, 1901–1904. ...

Features

Named features, from southwest to northeast, include Vishniac Peak, Skew Peak, Parker Mesa, Dykes Peak, Heaphy Spur, Detour Nunatak and Sperm Bluff.

Vishniac Peak

. A peak high which rises just north of the head of Webb Glacier and southwest of Skew Peak. Mapped by USGS from surveys and United States Navy aerial photography, 1947-62. Named by US-ACAN for Wolf V. Vishniac (1922-73), professor of biology at the University of Rochester, New York, who made Antarctic studies (1971-72 and 1973) on the water absorption of soil particles and its microbiological significance, and the ability of microorganisms to withstand a hostile milieu. Doctor Vishniac fell to his death in the Asgard Range, upper Wright Valley, south of this peak, on December 11, 1973.

Skew Peak

. A mountain, high, just west of the head of Frazier Glacier, in the Clare Range. So named in 1957 by the Northern Survey Party of the CTAE (1956-58) because the summit is notably asymmetrical from all directions.

Springtail Point

. A rock point north of Skew Peak in the Clare Range, Victoria Land. So named by Heinz Janetschek, biologist at McMurdo Station (1961-62), because of a find of springtail insects at this location.

Molnia Bluff

A steep bluff rising to high and extending west–east for at the southeast end of Parker Mesa, Clare Range, Victoria Land. The elevation drops to high at the foot of the bluff. Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) (2005) after Bruce Franklin Molnia, United States Geological Survey (USGS) geologist who conducted seismic studies in the Southern Ocean and Antarctic marginal seas from R.V. Eltanin, 1965-66; Acting Executive Director of the Polar Research Board of the National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, 1985-87; Chief, International Polar Programs, United States Geological Survey (USGS), 1987-2002; Research Geologist, United States Geological Survey (USGS), 2002-05.

Parker Mesa

. A prominent snow covered mesa southeast of Skew Peak, in the south part of Clare Range. This high, flattish feature was named by US-ACAN for Bruce C. Parker, United States ArmyRP biologist who conducted limnological studies at Antarctic Peninsula (1969-70) and in Victoria Land (1973-74 and 1974-75).

Dykes Peak

. A peak high at the head of Victoria Upper Glacier, east of Skew Peak. Mapped by USGS from surveys and United States Navy aerial photographs, 1947-62. Named by US-ACAN (1974) for Leonard H. Dykes who was associated for nearly 20 years with the successive Antarctic co-ordinating committees within the United States Government.

Jatko Peak

A sharp-pointed peak, high, northwest of Dykes Peak. Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) (2007) after Joyce A. Jatko, Environmental Officer for the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs, 1994--2003; United States representative to the SCAR Committee for Environmental Protection and Vice Chair of the Committee for two terms.

Heaphy Spur

. A prominent, curved, rock spur, long, which descends from the southern side of Clare Range and divides the head of Victoria Upper Glacier. Mapped by USGS from surveys and United States Navy aerial photography, 1947-62. Named by US-ACAN (1974) after William Heaphy, a New Zealand citizen who, over the past 10 years, participated in the United States Antarctic Research Program.

Sperm Bluff

. A prominent dark bluff, long and over high, forming the northeast extremity of Clare Range. Charted and named by the BrAE, 1910-13. When viewed from the east, the north face of the bluff suggests the blunt head of a sperm whale.

References

Sources

* * * * {{Include-USGov , agency=United States Geological Survey Mountain ranges of Victoria Land Scott Coast