The Royal Society Range ( 78°10′S 162°40′E / 78.167°S 162.667°E / -78.167; 162.667 ( Royal Society Range ) ) is a majestic range of mountains in Victoria Land, Antarctica, rising to 4,025 metres (13,205 ft) along the west shore of McMurdo Sound between the Koettlitz, Skelton and Ferrar Glaciers. They are south of the Kukri Hills , southeast of the Quartermain Mountains , and northeast of the Worcester Range .
16-530: With its summit at 4,025 metres (13,205 ft), the massive Mount Lister forms the highest point in this range. Mount Lister is located along the western shore of McMurdo Sound between the Koettlitz , Skelton and Ferrar glaciers. Other notable local terrain features include Allison Glacier , which descends from the west slopes of the Royal Society Range into Skelton Glacier. The range
32-478: A highest point is classified as a summit, a sub peak or a separate mountain is subjective. The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation 's definition of a 4,000 m peak is that it has a prominence of 30 metres (98 ft) or more; it is a mountain summit if it has a prominence of at least 300 metres (980 ft). Otherwise, it is a subpeak. In many parts of the Western United States ,
48-620: Is a piedmont glacier on the coast of Victoria Land , covering about 40 square miles (100 km ) and lying just south of New Harbour . It merges at its south side with Blue Glacier . It was discovered by the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04 , but not named until the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910–13 , when Thomas Griffith Taylor named it for Lieutenant Henry R. Bowers , who perished with Robert F. Scott on
64-400: Is an exaggerated form produced by ice erosion of a mountain top. Summit may also refer to the highest point along a line, trail, or route. The highest summit in the world is Mount Everest with a height of 8,848.86 m (29,031.7 ft) above sea level . The first official ascent was made by Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary . They reached the mountain's peak in 1953. Whether
80-513: Is referred to as the Ross Orogeny. The Royal Society Range contains over 50 basaltic vents, ranging in size from tiny mounds to cinder cones up to 300 meters (985 feet) high. Dating of surface material indicates they were active earlier than 15 million years ago (e.g. Heald Island ) and as recently as 80,000 years ago, with glacier-bound tephra layers suggesting even more recent Holocene activity. The vast majority of vents are located in
96-746: The Bowers Piedmont Glacier and the Blue Glacier to the east. The Blue Glacier separates the range from the Denton Hills , which run from north to south along the coast of McMurdo Sound in the northeast, and along the northwest side of the Koettlitz Glacier further south. The Pyramid, the southeast tip of the range, is on the north side of the Koettlitz Glacier. The southwest and west of the range lies to
112-680: The East Antarctic Craton between the Skelton and Koettlitz Glaciers resulted in the emplacement of coarse grained alkaline igneous intrusive rocks (ranging from gabbro to A-type granite). This area of alkaline intrusives is referred to as the Koettlitz Glacier Alkaline Province. Cambrian tectonic convergence, continental collision and plate subduction led to the emplacement of calc-alkaline and adakitic granitoids. This period of mountain building
128-485: The United States Geological Survey . Summit (topography) A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme , apex , peak ( mountain peak ), and zenith are synonymous . The term top ( mountain top ) is generally used only for a mountain peak that is located at some distance from
144-657: The committee which organized the expedition. The Royal Society Range consists of a Precambrian igneous and meta-igneous basement complex overlain by Devonian - to Triassic -age sandstones , siltstones and conglomerates of the Beacon Supergroup which dip shallowly westward away from the Ross Sea coast. The entire region is cut by north–south trending longitudinal faults , east–west trending transverse faults, and structurally related dike swarms . Tectonic and fluvial activity have featured very heavily in
160-802: The east of the Skelton Glacier , which rises in the Skelton Névé to the west of the range and flows south into the Ross Ice Shelf . The northwest of the range lies to the east and south of the Ferrar Glacier , which flows east along the north of the range to New Harbour in McMurdo Sound. The surrounding glaciers are: Download coordinates as: Major features include: [REDACTED] This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of
176-502: The foothills of the Royal Society mountains just north of Koettlitz Glacier , and most are Quaternary in age. Most emanating flows are 3–10 meters thick and less than 4 kilometers long. The composition, with very few exceptions, is porphyritic basanite with primarily olivine and clinopyroxene phenocrysts, though some phenocrystic plagioclase is also present. [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Royal Society range borders
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#1732773193691192-398: The nearest point of higher elevation. For example, a big, massive rock next to the main summit of a mountain is not considered a summit. Summits near a higher peak, with some prominence or isolation , but not reaching a certain cutoff value for the quantities, are often considered subsummits (or subpeaks ) of the higher peak, and are considered part of the same mountain. A pyramidal peak
208-481: The recent geologic history of the Royal Society Range. Following the extension of the Ross Sea Basin (c. 55 million years ago), an episode of uplift drove the creation of the Royal Society Range rift flank. At this time a tectonic (though not accretionary ) wedge, up to 6 km thick on the coast, was present, though it quickly began to erode due primarily to fluvial processes, and the Royal Society Range
224-559: The term summit can also be used for the highest point along a road, highway, or railroad, more commonly referred to as a pass . For example, the highest point along Interstate 80 in California is referred to as Donner Summit and the highest point on Interstate 5 is Siskiyou Mountain Summit . This can lead to confusion as to whether a labeled "summit" is a pass or a peak. Bowers Piedmont Glacier Bowers Piedmont Glacier
240-453: Was cut down near to its present appearance by the mid-Miocene . Relatively limited glacial action since that time has preserved much of the fluvial architecture of the Range, and though uplift did not cease, its magnitude is such that it has not drastically affected the landscape, having progressed only 67 meters in the last 8 million years. Neoproterozoic tectonic extension along the edge of
256-592: Was probably first seen by Captain James Clark Ross in 1841. It was explored by the British National Antarctic Expedition (BrNAE; 1901–04) under Robert Falcon Scott , who named the range after the Royal Society and applied names of its members to many of its peaks. For example, Mount Lister was named for Lord Joseph Lister , President of the Royal Society, 1895–1900. The Royal Society provided financial support to BrNAE and its members had assisted on
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