Queen Alexandra Range

Queen Alexandra Range
Queen Alexandra Range Location in Antarctica
Highest point
Peak	Mount Kirkpatrick
Elevation	4,528 m (14,856 ft)
Dimensions
Length	160 km (99 mi)
Area	74,641 km2 (28,819 sq mi)
Geography
Range coordinates	84°00′S 168°00′E

The Queen Alexandra Range (84°00′S 168°00′E) is a major mountain range about 100 nautical miles (190 km; 120 mi) long, bordering the entire western side of Beardmore Glacier from the Polar Plateau to the Ross Ice Shelf. The range is in the Transantarctic Mountains System, and is located in the Ross Dependency region of Antarctica.

Discovery

The Queen Alexandra Range was discovered on the journey toward the South Pole by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907–09 (BrAE), and was named by Ernest Shackleton for Queen Alexandra, Queen of the United Kingdom, 1901-10. Shackleton and his men, and a later expedition headed by Robert Falcon Scott, both collected rock samples from the range that contained fossils. The discovery that multicellular life forms had lived so close to the South Pole was an additional piece of evidence that accompanied the publication (in 1910 and independently in 1912) of the theory of continental drift.

Location

The Queen Alexandra Range is bounded by the Beardmore Glacier along its southeast edge, which divides it from the Commonwealth Range of the Queen Maud Mountains to the east. The west of the range is bounded by the Antarctic Plateau in the south. Further north it is bounded by the Walcott Névé to the east, which separates the range from the Colbert Hills. The Walcott Névé joins the Law Glacier in the Bowden Névé which feeds the Lennox-King Glacier. This glacier bounds the northwest part of the range, and separates it from the Holland Range to the north. The northern tip of the range extends to the Ross Ice Shelf between the Lennox King Glaciers and Beardmore Glacier.

Major glaciers

• Beardmore Glacier (83°45′S 171°00′E) is of the largest known valley glaciers, over 100 nautical miles (190 km; 120 mi) long, descending the polar plateau and flowing north between the Queen Alexandra Range and Commonwealth Range, to enter the Ross Ice Shelf.
• Law Glacier (84°05′S 161°00′E) is a glacier about 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) wide between the south end of the Queen Elizabeth Range and the MacAlpine Hills, gradually descending east-northeast from the polar plateau to Bowden Névé.
• Bowden Névé 83°30′S 165°00′E is a névé about 20 miles (32 km) wide, lying southward of Mount Miller between Queen Elizabeth Range and Queen Alexandra Range.
• Walcott Névé 84°23′S 162°40′E is a névé, about 350 square miles (910 km²) in area, bounded by the Marshall Mountains, Lewis Cliff and Mount Sirius.
• Lennox-King Glacier (83°25′S 168°00′E) is a large valley glacier, about 40 nautical miles (74 km; 46 mi) long, draining Bowden Névé and flowing northeast between the Holland Range and Queen Alexandra Ranges to enter Richards Inlet, Ross Ice Shelf.

Mountains and peaks

Northern part of range in south of map. Lennox King Glacier (west), Beardmore Glacier (East)

Southern part of range, west of Beardmore Glacier

Mountains and peaks over 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) high include:

Mountain	m	ft	coord
Mount Kirkpatrick	4,528	14,856	84°20′S 166°25′E
Mount Elizabeth	4,480	14,698	(83°54′S 168°23′E
Mount Bell	4,305	14,124	84°04′S 167°30′E
Mount Mackellar	4,295	14,091	83°59′S 166°39′E
Fleming Summit	4,200	13,780	84.33333°S 166.3°E / -84.33333; 166.3 (Fleming Summit)
Mount Dickerson	4,120	13,517	84°20′S 167°08′E
Decennial Peak	4,020	13,189	84°22′S 166°02′E
Mount Anne	3,870	12,697	83°48′S 168°30′E
Mount Falla	3,825	12,549	84°22′S 164°55′E
Tempest Peak	3,410	11,188	84°31′S 164°11′E
Blizzard Peak	3,375	11,073	84°38′S 164°08′E
Barnes Peak	3,360	11,024	84°23′S 167°34′E
Storm Peak	3,280	10,761	84°35′S 164°00′E
Mount Stanley	3,220	10,564	84°09′S 165°29′E
Lindsay Peak	3,210	10,531	84°37′S 163°32′E
Mount Marshall	3,160	10,367	84°41′S 164°39′E
Pagoda Peak	3,040	9,974	83°56′S 166°45′E
Mount Price	3,030	9,941	84°29′S 166°38′E
Mount Bishop	3,020	9,908	83°43′S 168°42′E
Kip Peak	3,000	9,843	84.5167°S 164.46667°E / -84.5167; 164.46667 (Kip Peak)

Features

Major features that are the focus of a named or unnamed group of lesser features, include:

• Morris Heights (83°28′S 169°42′E), a relatively smooth ice-covered heights, forming a peninsula-like divide between Beaver Glacier and King Glacier at the north end of the Queen Alexandra Range.
• Mount Elizabeth (83°54′S 168°23′E), a massive ice-free mountain, 4,480 metres (14,700 ft) high, standing 6 nautical miles (11 km; 6.9 mi) south of Mount Anne.
• Mount Mackellar (83°59′S 166°39′E), a massive mountain, 4,295 metres (14,091 ft) high, standing at the head of Mackellar Glacier, 3 nautical miles (5.6 km; 3.5 mi) south of Pagoda Peak.
• Grindley Plateau (84°9′S 166°5′E), a high icecapped plateau in the central Queen Alexandra Range, bordered by the peaks of Mount Mackellar, Mount Bell and Mount Kirkpatrick.
• The Cloudmaker (84°17′S 169°25′E), a massive mountain, 2,680 metres (8,790 ft) high, standing at the west side of Beardmore Glacier, just south of Hewson Glacier. It is easily identifiable by its high, ice-free slope facing Beardmore Glacier.
• Mount Kirkpatrick (84°20′S 166°25′E), a lofty, generally ice-free mountain in Queen Alexandra Range 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) west of Mount Dickerson. At 4,528 metres (14,856 ft) it is the highest point in the Queen Alexandra Range.
• Adams Mountains (84°30′S 166°20′E), a small but well defined group of mountains bounded by the Beardmore Glacier, Berwick Glacier, Moody Glacier and Bingley Glacier.
• Mount Falla (84°22′S 164°55′E), a prominent conical mountain, 3,825 metres (12,549 ft) high, standing 3.5 nautical miles (6.5 km; 4.0 mi) northeast of Mount Stonehouse, between Berwick Glacier and Prebble Glacier.
• Marshall Mountains (84°37′S 164°30′E), a group of mountains overlooking Beardmore Glacier. They are bounded on the north by Berwick Glacier, and on the south by Swinford Glacier.

Sources

• Alberts, Fred G., ed. (1995), Geographic Names of the Antarctic (PDF) (2 ed.), United States Board on Geographic Names, retrieved 2023-12-03  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Board on Geographic Names.
• Buckley Island, USGS: United States Geological Survey, retrieved 2024-03-16
• Mount Elizabeth, USGS: United States Geological Survey, retrieved 2024-03-16
• "Queen Alexandra Range", Peakbagger, retrieved 25 May 2017
• The Cloudmaker, USGS: United States Geological Survey, retrieved 2024-03-16

•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Geological Survey.