Churchill Mountains
Location of Churchill Mountains in SW Antarctica
Highest point
Peak	Mount Albert Markham
Elevation	3,205 m (10,515 ft)
Coordinates	81°23′S 158°14′E / 81.383°S 158.233°E / -81.383; 158.233
Geography
Continent	Antarctica
Region	Ross Dependency
Range coordinates	81°30′S 158°30′E / 81.5°S 158.5°E / -81.5; 158.5[1]
Parent range	Transantarctic Mountains

The Churchill Mountains are a mountain range group of the Transantarctic Mountains System, located in the Ross Dependency region of Antarctica. They border on the western side of the Ross Ice Shelf, between Byrd Glacier and Nimrod Glacier.

Several of the range's highest summits, including Mounts Egerton, Field, Nares, Wharton, and Albert Markham were first seen and named by the Discovery Expedition of 1901–1904 (aka: British National Antarctic Expedition), under Robert Falcon Scott^[1]

The mountains were mapped in detail by the USGS from Tellurometer surveys during 1960–61, and by United States Navy air photos in 1960.

They were named by the US-ACAN for Sir Winston Churchill.^[1]

Mountains and peaks

Sub−ranges

Sub−ranges of the Churchill Mountains include:

Carlstrom Foothills

The Carlstrom Foothills (81°25′S 159°0′E / 81.417°S 159.000°E / -81.417; 159.000) are a group of peaks and ridges in the Churchill Mountains, Antarctica. Carlstrom Foothills run north–south between Mount Albert Markham and Kelly Plateau in the Churchill Mountains. The feature is 10 nautical miles (20 km) long with summits rising to 1,690 metres (5,540 ft). It was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names after John Carlstrom of the department of astronomy and astrophysics, University of Chicago; projects director, Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica at South Pole Station from 2001.^[2]

Carnegie Range

The Carnegie Range (82°11′S 161°10′E / 82.183°S 161.167°E / -82.183; 161.167) is a mountain range in the Churchill Mountains. It is 18 nautical miles (33 km) long, running north–south between Errant Glacier and the Holyoake Range on the west and Algie Glacier and the Nash Range on the east. The range rises to over 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) and is ice-covered except for peaks and ridges in the northern portion and Russell Bluff at the south end. It was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names after Andrew Carnegie, American industrialist of Scottish birth who established numerous foundations and endowments for education, research, and social advancement, including the provision of public libraries in the United States, Great Britain, and other English speaking countries.^[3]

Cobham Range

The Cobham Range (82°18′S 159°0′E / 82.300°S 159.000°E / -82.300; 159.000) trends in a northwest–southeast direction for about 20 nautical miles (40 km), standing west of Prince Philip Glacier in the southern part of the Churchill Mountains. It was mapped by the northern party of the New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition, 1961–62, and named by the New Zealand Antarctic Place-Names Committee for a former Governor-General of New Zealand, Lord Cobham.^[4]

Darley Hills

The Darley Hills (81°6′S 160°10′E / 81.100°S 160.167°E / -81.100; 160.167) are a range of high, ice-covered coastal hills that overlook the Ross Ice Shelf, and trend north–south for about 20 nautical miles (40 km) between Cape Douglas and Cape Parr. They were named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for James M. Darley, chief cartographer of the National Geographic Society, 1940–63, under whose direction many important maps of Antarctica were published.^[5]

Holyoake Range

82°13′S 160°00′E / 82.217°S 160.000°E / -82.217; 160.000. A range in the south part of the Churchill Mountains, extending in a NW-SE direction for about 25 mi between Prince Philip and Errant Glaciers. Named by the NZ-APC for the Rt. Hon. K.J. Holyoake who, as Minister of Agriculture, then Prime Minister and later as Leader of the Opposition, gave strong support to N.Z. participation in CTAE, 1956-58.^[6]

Nash Range

The Nash Range (81°55′S 162°0′E / 81.917°S 162.000°E / -81.917; 162.000) is a mainly ice-covered coastal range in the Churchill Mountains of Antarctica. It is 40 nautical miles (70 km) long, bordering the west side of the Ross Ice Shelf between the Dickey and Nimrod Glaciers. The range was named by the Ross Sea Committee for Walter Nash who, as Leader of the Opposition and later as Prime Minister of New Zealand, gave strong support to New Zealand participation in the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1956–58.^[7]

Surveyors Range

81°37′S 160°15′E / 81.617°S 160.250°E / -81.617; 160.250. A 30 miles (48 km) long mountain range in the Churchill Mountains of Antarctica. It is 30 miles (48 km) long, extending north along the east side of Starshot Glacier from the Thompson Mountain area to the glacier's terminus at the Ross Ice Shelf. The range was named by the New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition (NZGSAE) (1960–61) for the early pioneering surveyors of New Zealand and present day equivalents in Great Britain who contributed to work carried out in this area by Captain P.J. Hunt, Royal Engineers.^[8]

Swithinbank Range

81°42′S 159°0′E / 81.700°S 159.000°E / -81.700; 159.000. A small range from the Churchill Mountains extending eastward between Donnally and Ahern Glaciers to the west side of Starshot Glacier. It was named by the New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition (NZGSAE) (1959–60) for Charles W. Swithinbank, glaciologist that season at Little America V.^[9]

Plateaus and snowfields

Kent Plateau

Kent Plateau is an ice-covered plateau, 12 miles (19 km) long and 4 miles (6.4 km) wide, extending northward from Mount Egerton and Kiwi Pass to the vicinity of Mount Hamilton. It is in the in the northern extreme of the Churchill Mountains. Kent Plateau was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Commander Donald F. Kent, U.S. Navy, logistics officer to Admiral Dufek at the outset of U.S. Navy Operation Deep Freeze I, 1955–56.^[10]

Cooper Snowfield

Cooper Snowfield (80°56′S 158°40′E / 80.933°S 158.667°E / -80.933; 158.667) is a snowfield with an area of about 25 square miles (65 km²) in the Churchill Mountains. The snowfield rises to over 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) and is nearly encircled by ridges connecting Mount Field, Mount Durnford, and Mount Liard. It was named after Alan K. Cooper, a marine geophysicist with the United States Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California, who was involved in drilling and seismic studies of the Antarctic continental margin for deriving paleoenvironments and ice sheet history, 1984–2002.^[11]

Chapman Snowfield

Chapman Snowfield (81°30′S 157°20′E / 81.500°S 157.333°E / -81.500; 157.333) is a large snowfield lying west of the central ridge in the Churchill Mountains. Chapman Snowfield is bounded to the north by Elder Peak and the massif surmounted by Mount Wharton, to the south by Soza Icefalls, Black Icefalls and the head of Starshot Glacier, and to the west by the Wallabies Nunataks and the All-Blacks Nunataks.^[12] Chapman Snowfield was named after William H. Chapman, topographic engineer, United States Geological Survey, leader of the 1961–62 Topo North – Topo South survey of mountains west of the Ross Sea from Cape Roget, Adare Peninsula, to Otway Massif at the head of Beardmore Glacier, a traverse totalling 1,570 miles (2,530 km). This first helicopter-supported traverse with electronic-distant-measuring instruments resulted in the establishment of ground control making possible the mapping of a 100,000-square-mile (260,000 km²) area of the Transantarctic Mountains.^[12]

See also

• Transantarctic Mountains topics

References

Sources