Hammer Col
Encyclopedia
Mountain pass
A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
at 3800 m elevation between the south part of Vinson Massif
Vinson Massif
Vinson Massif is the highest mountain of Antarctica, lying in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, which stand above the Ronne Ice Shelf near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula. The massif is located about from the South Pole and is about long and wide. At the highest point is Mount...
and the Craddock Massif
Craddock Massif
Craddock Massif is a mountain massif in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, in the Chilean claim of West Antarctica.-Location and highest point:...
in the Sentinel Range
Sentinel Range
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 and is 24 to 48 km wide...
, Ellsworth Mountains
Ellsworth Mountains
The Ellsworth Mountains are the highest mountain ranges in Antarctica, forming a long and wide chain of mountains in a north to south configuration on the western margin of the Ronne Ice Shelf. They are bisected by Minnesota Glacier to form the northern Sentinel Range and the southern Heritage...
. The 1.5-mile wide saddle is relatively level and visually separates the two massif
Massif
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...
s whether viewed from the east or the west.
Discovery and naming
Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic NamesAdvisory Committee on Antarctic Names
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...
(US-ACAN) (2006) after William R. Hammer
William R. Hammer
Dr. William Roy Hammer is a professor at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. He is credited with the discovery of the Cryolophosaurus in 1991. He is originally from Detroit, Michigan.- References :...
, Department of Geology, Augustana College
Augustana College (Illinois)
Augustana College is a private liberal arts college located in Rock Island, Illinois, United States. The college enrolls approximately 2,500 students. Covering of hilly, wooded land, Augustana is adjacent to the Mississippi River...
, Rockford, IL, U.S. Antarctic Project (USAP) investigator of vertebrate
Vertebrate
Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...
fossils, primarily in the central Transantarctic Mountains
Transantarctic Mountains
The three largest mountain ranges on the Antarctic continent are the Transantarctic Mountains , the West Antarctica Ranges, and the East Antarctica Ranges. The Transantarctic Mountains compose a mountain range in Antarctica which extend, with some interruptions, across the continent from Cape Adare...
, 1977-2003.