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The Antarctandes (Antartandes in Spanish), also known as the Antarctic Peninsula cordillera, [1] is the mountain range that is located on the northern Antarctic Peninsula, in the Graham Land and Palmer Land regions of Antarctica and may also be considered to extend across the continent.
Some geologists consider the Antarctandes a southernmost continuation of the Andes Range System on Antarctica. According to this theory the Andes start at the border between Colombia and Venezuela; run along western South America; submerge into the Atlantic Ocean to the east of Tierra del Fuego to form the underwater Scotia Arc mountain range; resurface periodically in the Shag Rocks, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, South Orkney Islands and South Shetland Islands; and finally resurface on the northern Antarctic Peninsula. Chile calls the peninsula Tierra de O'Higgins, and Argentina Tierra de San Martín.
The highest mountain of the Peninsular Antarctandes is Mount Hope (3,239 m) in the Eternity Range in Palmer Land. [2]
To the southwest, the Antarctandes continue as the Ellsworth Mountains, the highest mountain range in Antarctica and much-covered by glaciers in Palmer Land; then through the Whitmore Mountains to the Queen Maud Mountains. From there, the Antarctandes follow the western coast of the Ross Sea to Cape Adare. The major transcontinental Transantarctic Mountains System shares the Cape Adare to Queen Maud ranges with the Antarctandes but then veers east along the eastern coast of the Weddell Sea. To the southeast of the Antarctic Peninsula, the Antarctic Plateau extends to the South Pole. The Antarctandes thus form a serpentine arc, over 5,000 kilometres long, along the southern rim of the Pacific Ring of Fire.
The Peninsular Antarctandes range is claimed by Argentina for Argentine Antarctica, Chile for Chilean Antarctic Territory, and the United Kingdom for the British Antarctic Territory. All these claims are frozen by Article 4 of the 1960s Antarctic Treaty System.
The history of Antarctica emerges from early Western theories of a vast continent, known as Terra Australis, believed to exist in the far south of the globe. The term Antarctic, referring to the opposite of the Arctic Circle, was coined by Marinus of Tyre in the 2nd century AD.
The geography of Argentina is heavily diverse, consisting of the Andes Mountains, pampas, and various rivers and lakes. Bordered by the Andes in the west and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east, its neighbouring countries are Chile to the west, Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, and Brazil and Uruguay to the northeast.
The British Antarctic Territory (BAT) is a sector of Antarctica claimed by the United Kingdom as one of its 14 British Overseas Territories, of which it is by far the largest by area. It comprises the region south of 60°S latitude and between longitudes 20°W and 80°W, forming a wedge shape that extends to the South Pole, overlapped by the Antarctic claims of Argentina and Chile. The claim to the region has been suspended since the Antarctic Treaty came into force in 1961.
The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre. Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula. The easternmost point is Cape Norvegia at Princess Martha Coast, Queen Maud Land. To the east of Cape Norvegia is the King Haakon VII Sea. Much of the southern part of the sea is covered by a permanent, massive ice shelf field, the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf.
The Magallanes Region, officially the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region, is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It is the southernmost, largest, and second least populated region of Chile. It comprises four provinces: Última Esperanza, Magallanes, Tierra del Fuego, and Antártica Chilena.
The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martín in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctica.
Alexander Island, which is also known as Alexander I Island, Alexander I Land, Alexander Land, Alexander I Archipelago, and Zemlja Alexandra I, is the largest island of Antarctica. It lies in the Bellingshausen Sea west of Palmer Land, Antarctic Peninsula from which it is separated by Marguerite Bay and George VI Sound. The George VI Ice Shelf entirely fills George VI Sound and connects Alexander Island to Palmer Land. The island partly surrounds Wilkins Sound, which lies to its west. Alexander Island is about 390 kilometres (240 mi) long in a north–south direction, 80 kilometres (50 mi) wide in the north, and 240 kilometres (150 mi) wide in the south. Alexander Island is the second-largest uninhabited island in the world, after Devon Island.
The Transantarctic Mountains comprise a mountain range of uplifted rock in Antarctica which extends, with some interruptions, across the continent from Cape Adare in northern Victoria Land to Coats Land. These mountains divide East Antarctica and West Antarctica. They include a number of separately named mountain groups, which are often again subdivided into smaller ranges.
Graham Land is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula that lies north of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This description of Graham Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the British Antarctic Place-names Committee and the US Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names, in which the name "Antarctic Peninsula" was approved for the major peninsula of Antarctica, and the names Graham Land and Palmer Land for the northern and southern portions, respectively. The line dividing them is roughly 69 degrees south.
The American Cordillera is a chain of mountain ranges (cordilleras) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western "backbone" of the Americas. Aconcagua is the highest peak of the chain. It is also the backbone of the volcanic arc that forms the eastern half of the Pacific Ring of Fire.
Argentine Antarctica is an area on Antarctica claimed by Argentina as part of its national territory. It consists of the Antarctic Peninsula and a triangular section extending to the South Pole, delimited by the 25° West and 74° West meridians and the 60° South parallel. This region overlaps with British and Chilean claims in Antarctica. None of these claims have widespread international recognition.
The geology of Antarctica covers the geological development of the continent through the Archean, Proterozoic and Phanerozoic eons.
The Chilean Antarctic Territory, or Chilean Antarctica, is a part of West Antarctica and nearby islands claimed by Chile. It comprises the region south of 60°S latitude and between longitudes 53°W and 90°W, partially overlapping the Antarctic claims of Argentina and the United Kingdom. It constitutes the Antártica commune of Chile.
The geology of Chile is a characterized by processes linked to subduction, such as volcanism, earthquakes, and orogeny. The building blocks of Chile's geology were assembled during the Paleozoic Era when Chile was the southwestern margin of the supercontinent Gondwana. In the Jurassic, Gondwana began to split, and the ongoing period of crustal deformation and mountain building known as the Andean orogeny began. In the Late Cenozoic, Chile definitely separated from Antarctica, and the Andes experienced a significant rise accompanied by a cooling climate and the onset of glaciations.
The Scotia Arc is the island arc system forming the north, east and south border of the Scotia Sea. The northern border, the North Scotia Ridge, comprises Isla de los Estados at the tip of Tierra del Fuego, the Burdwood, Davis, and Aurora Banks; the Shag, South Georgia Island and Clerke Rocks. The eastern border comprises the volcanic South Sandwich Islands flanked by the South Sandwich Trench. The southern border, the South Scotia Ridge, comprises Herdman, Discovery, Bruce, Pirie, and Jane Banks; the South Orkney Islands and Elephant Island. The Bransfield Strait, finally, separates the arc from the South Shetland Islands and James Ross Island flanking the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Mount Nicholas is a 1,465-m mountain, standing 5.5 nautical miles (10 km) south-southwest of Cape Brown, and forming the northern limit of the Douglas Range on the east side of Alexander Island, Antarctica.
Mount Hope is a mountain rising to 3,239 metres (10,627 ft), forming the central and highest peak of the Eternity Range in northern Palmer Land, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica, a part of the British Antarctic Territory, over twice the size of Cerro Vinciguerra, the highest mountain from the Argentinian side of Tierra del Fuego. Following a 2017 survey, by the British Antarctic Survey team, Mount Hope was found to be higher than previously thought. It is the highest point in the British Antarctic Territory and the claimed lands of the United Kingdom.
Fueguino is a volcanic field in Chile. The southernmost volcano in the Andes, it lies on Tierra del Fuego's Cook Island and also extends over nearby Londonderry Island. The field is formed by lava domes, pyroclastic cones, and a crater lake.
The natural delimitation between the Pacific and South Atlantic Oceans by the Scotia arc is a hydrographical concept developed in Chile in 1952 in which it was postulated that the boundary between the southeast Pacific Ocean and the southwest Atlantic Ocean should not be the meridian of Cape Horn but rather follow the line of the Scotia Arc, an underwater mountain range which links the Tierra del Fuego archipelago with the Antarctic continent.
The South Antilles or Antartilles is the name given in some parts of South America to the insular group of volcanic origin that extends in the form of a great sinusoid from the southeastern edges of the Argentine Sea to bordering the western coasts of the Antarctic Peninsula.