Craddock Massif

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Craddock Massif
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Craddock Massif
Highest point
Elevation 4,477 m (14,688 ft)  [1]
Coordinates 78°36′S85°18′W / 78.600°S 85.300°W / -78.600; -85.300 Coordinates: 78°36′S85°18′W / 78.600°S 85.300°W / -78.600; -85.300  
Geography
Location West Antarctica (Chilean claim)
Parent range Sentinel Range
Climbing
First ascent Jed Brown (US) December 2006
Easiest route snow/ice climb
Sentinel Range with Craddock Massif, USGS Map Vinson-Map.jpg
Sentinel Range with Craddock Massif, USGS Map

Craddock Massif is a mountain massif in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, in the Chilean claim of West Antarctica.

In geology, a massif is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a group of mountains formed by such a structure.

Sentinel Range mountain range in Antarctica, northward of Minnesota Glacier, forms the northern half of the Ellsworth Mountains

The Sentinel Range is a major mountain range situated northward of Minnesota Glacier and forming the northern half of the Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica. The range trends NNW-SSE for about 185 km (115 mi) and is 24 to 48 km wide. Many peaks rise over 4,000 m (13,100 ft) and Vinson Massif (4892 m) in the southern part of the range is the highest elevation on the continent.

Ellsworth Mountains highest mountain ranges in Antarctica

The Ellsworth Mountains are the highest mountain ranges in Antarctica, forming a 360 km (224 mi) long and 48 km (30 mi) wide chain of mountains in a north to south configuration on the western margin of the Ronne Ice Shelf in Marie Byrd Land. They are bisected by Minnesota Glacier to form the Sentinel Range to the north and the Heritage Range to the south. The former is by far the higher and more spectacular with Mount Vinson (4,892 m) constituting the highest point on the continent. Geologically, they are part of the Antarctandes which stretch from the Antarctic Peninsula to Cape Adare on the western shore of the Ross Sea. The Antarctandes form the southernmost arc of the Pacific 'Ring of Fire'. The mountains are located within the Chilean Antarctic territorial claim but outside of the Argentinian and British ones.

Contents

Location and highest point

Craddock Massif is located at the southeastern side of Vinson Massif, between Hammer Col and Karnare Col linking it to Vinson Massif and the southern Sentinel Range respectively. The highest point of Craddock Massif is Mount Rutford, a sharp peak that rises to 4,477 metres (14,688 ft). The Craddock Massif also includes (from north to south) Bugueño Pinnacle, Rada Peak and Mount Craddock. [1]

Vinson Massif massif containing the highest peak in Antarctica

Vinson Massif is a large mountain massif in Antarctica that is 21 km (13 mi) long and 13 km (8.1 mi) wide and lies within the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains. It overlooks the Ronne Ice Shelf near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula. The massif is located about 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) from the South Pole. Vinson Massif was discovered in January 1958 by U.S. Navy aircraft. In 1961, the Vinson Massif was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN), after Carl G. Vinson, United States congressman from the state of Georgia, for his support for Antarctic exploration. On November 1, 2006, US-ACAN declared Mount Vinson and Vinson Massif to be separate entities.

Hammer Col

Hammer Col is a broad ice-covered col at 3,800 metres (12,500 ft) elevation between the south part of the Vinson Massif and the Craddock Massif in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. The 1.5-nautical-mile (3 km) wide saddle is relatively level and visually separates the two massifs whether viewed from the east or the west. It is part of the glacial divide between the heads of Dater Glacier on the northeast and Gildea Glacier on the southwest.

Karnare Col

Karnare Col is the narrow rocky col of elevation 2,100 m (6,900 ft) between the southeast slopes of Mount Craddock and the northeast ridge of Mount Strybing, linking Craddock Massif to Owen Ridge in southern Sentinel Range, Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica. It extends 1.7 km (1.1 mi) from east to west, with a depression in its eastern part. It is part of the glacial divide between Nimitz Glacier and Rutford Ice Stream, overlooking Severinghaus Glacier to the southwest and Saltzman Glacier to the northeast.

Discovery and naming

Sentinel Range was first sighted and photographed from the air on November 23, 1935, by Lincoln Ellsworth. The entire range, including Craddock Massif, was mapped by the United States Geological Survey from aerial photography taken by the U.S. Navy, 1958–61. [1]

Lincoln Ellsworth American explorer

Lincoln Ellsworth was a polar explorer from the United States and a major benefactor of the American Museum of Natural History.

United States Geological Survey scientific agency of the United States government

The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The USGS is a fact-finding research organization with no regulatory responsibility.

This massif was originally named "Mount Craddock" by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) in 1965, but subsequent maps limited the name to the massif’s southernmost peak, a modification that was adopted by US-ACAN in 2006 when it approved the name Craddock Massif. The massif is named after Professor J. Campbell Craddock (1930–2006), the leader of the 1962–63 University of Minnesota geological expedition to the Sentinel and Heritage Ranges of the Ellsworth Mountains. [1]

The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending names for features in Antarctica. The United States does not recognise territorial boundaries within Antarctica, so ACAN will assign names to features anywhere within the continent, in consultation with other national nomenclatural bodies where appropriate.

University of Minnesota public research university in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Minneapolis and St. Paul campuses are approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) apart, and the St. Paul campus is actually in neighboring Falcon Heights. It is the oldest and largest campus within the University of Minnesota system and has the sixth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 50,943 students in 2018-19. The university is the flagship institution of the University of Minnesota system, and is organized into 19 colleges and schools, with sister campuses in Crookston, Duluth, Morris, and Rochester.

Heritage Range mountain range

The Heritage Range is a major mountain range, 160 km (99 mi) long and 48 km (30 mi) wide, situated southward of Minnesota Glacier and forming the southern half of the Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica. The range is complex, consisting of scattered ridges and peaks of moderate height, escarpments, hills and nunataks, with the various units of relief set off by numerous intervening glaciers.

Maps

See also

Related Research Articles

Mount Craddock

Mount Craddock is a large, bold mountain forming the south extremity of Craddock Massif in Sentinel Range, the ninth highest mountain in Antarctica. It is linked by Karnare Col to Mount Strybing in the southern Sentinel Range. The ninth-highest mountain in Antarctica was first climbed in January 1992.

Mount Rutford

Mount Rutford is a sharp peak that rises to 4,477 metres (14,688 ft) and marks the highest point on Craddock Massif in the Sentinel Range, Ellsworth Mountains. The peak stands just north of Bugueño Pinnacle and 2.1 mi north of Mount Craddock, with which this naming is associated. Prior to 2006 the peak had no name, but was visually identified by Camilo Rada and Damien Gildea as being higher than Mt Craddock, during their time on the summits of both Vinson (2004) and Craddock (2005). Thus they returned in 2006 and, as part of a larger GPS program, measured the height of this unnamed peak.

Gildea Glacier glacier in Antarctica

Gildea Glacier is a glacier 10 kilometres (6 mi) long and 5 kilometres (3 mi) wide flowing southwestward from Craddock Massif between Mount Slaughter and Mount Atkinson into Nimitz Glacier, in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. The upper portion of the glacier also receives ice from Hammer Col and southern Vinson Massif.

Vinson Plateau plateau in Antarctica

Vinson Plateau is the summit plateau of Vinson Massif, Sentinel Range in Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. It extends for 9 km between Goodge Col and Hammer Col linking it to the north-central part of Sentinel Range to the north-northwest and to Craddock Massif to the south-southeast respectively, and 4.5 km wide between Branscomb Peak and Silverstein Peak to the west and Schoening Peak and Marts Peak to the east. Elevation from 4000 m to 4600 m above sea level. Rising from the plateau is the summit of Antarctica Mount Vinson, and several other peaks higher than 4700 m, albeit of modest prominence: Clinch Peak, Corbet Peak, Silverstein Peak, Schoening Peak and Hollister Peak. The lower peaks of Fukushima and Opalchenie stand at the south extremity of the plateau. Its central part is drained by Roché Glacier and a tributary glacier in Jacobsen Valley, with both of them joining Branscomb Glacier.

Patton Glacier glacier in Antarctica

Patton Glacier is a broad tributary glacier in the Sentinel Range, Ellsworth Mountains. It drains the east slope of the main ridge between Mounts Ostenso and Tyree, flows east-northeastwards between Evans Peak and Versinikia Peak on the north and Mount Bearskin on the south, and enters Ellen Glacier northeast of Zalmoxis Peak and southeast of Mount Jumper.

Mount Slaughter

Mount Slaughter is an ice-free peak, rising to 3,600 metres (11,800 ft) on a spur trending southwest from Opalchenie Peak on Vinson Plateau, Sentinel Range, in the Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. It is surmounting the head of Donnellan Glacier to the northwest and Gildea Glacier to the south. It was mapped by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) from surveys and U.S. Navy aerial photographs from 1957-60. It was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) in 1982, after John B. Slaughter, the director of the National Science Foundation from 1980-82.

Severinghaus Glacier glacier in Antarctica

Severinghaus Glacier is a glacier flowing southwestward from Karnare Col along the north side of Mount Strybing and the south side of Mount Craddock into Bender Glacier in southern Sentinel Range, Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica. Named by the US-ACAN (2006) after Jeffrey P. Severinghaus, University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography; USAP researcher from 1996 on the history of the atmosphere, including greenhouse gases, and history of climate changes, using the ice core record.

Silverstein Peak

Silverstein Peak is a prominent, 4,790-metre-high (15,720 ft) peak on the west edge of the ice-covered Vinson Plateau in the Sentinel Range of Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. It surmounts Roché Glacier to the north and Zapol Glacier to the southwest.

Doyran Heights

Doyran Heights are the heights rising to 3560 m at Mount Tuck in the east foothills of Vinson Massif and Craddock Massif in Sentinel Range, Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica, extending 30.8 km in north-south direction and 16.5 km in east-west direction. They are bounded by Thomas Glacier to the south and southwest, Dater Glacier and Hansen Glacier to the northwest and north, and Sikera Valley to the east, linked to Craddock Massif to the west by Goreme Col, and separated from Veregava Ridge to the north by Manole Pass and from Flowers Hills to the northeast by Kostinbrod Pass. Their interior is drained by Guerrero, Hough, Remington and Obelya Glaciers.

Hinkley Glacier

Hinkley Glacier is a glacier flowing northeastward from Corbet Peak and Schoening Peak, Vinson Massif on the east slope of Sentinel Range in the Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica, and continuing between Mount Segers and Zinsmeister Ridge to enter Dater Glacier southeast of Nebeska Peak and northwest of Sipey Peak. It was named by US-ACAN (2006) after Todd K. Hinkley, Technical Director, National Ice Core Laboratory, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO,2001-06.

Corbet Peak

Corbet Peak is a 4,822-metre-high (15,820 ft) peak, at the north edge of the ice-covered Vinson Plateau in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. It surmounts Hinkley Glacier to the northeast and the head of Roché Glacier to the southwest.

Schoening Peak

Schoening Peak is a 4,743 metres (15,561 ft) high, steep and rocky peak, at the northeast edge of the ice-covered Vinson Plateau in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. It surmounts Hinkley Glacier to the north and Dater Glacier to the northeast.

Clinch Peak

Clinch Peak is a 4,841 metres (15,883 ft) high, elongated peak, in the central part of the ice-covered Vinson Plateau in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. It surmounts Roché Glacier to the west.

Marts Peak

Marts Peak is a 4,551 metres (14,931 ft) high, small and sharp peak at the east edge of the ice-covered Vinson Plateau in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. It surmounts Dater Glacier to the northeast and Hammer Col to the south.

Hollister Peak (Antarctica) mountain in Antarctica

Hollister Peak is a 4,729 metres (15,515 ft) high, sharp peak in the central part of the ice-covered Vinson Plateau in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. It surmounts th head of Roché Glacier to the north.

Wahlstrom Peak

Wahlstrom Peak is a 4,677 metres (15,344 ft) high, sharp peak at the southeast side of the ice-covered Vinson Plateau in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. It surmounts the head of Roché Glacier to the northwest and Hammer Col to the southeast.

Della Pia Glacier

Della Pia Glacier is a glacier that descends the east slope of Craddock Massif and flows between Mount Mohl and Elfring Peak into Thomas Glacier in the Sentinel Range, Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica.

Chaplin Peak

Chaplin Peak is the peak rising to 1978 m on the west side of Bender Glacier, 5 mi southwest of Mount Craddock and 1.3 miles north of Gilbert Spur in the Sentinel Range of Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. Surmounting Nimitz Glacier to the west.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Craddock Massif". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey . Retrieved 31 May 2010.

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