Kukri Hills
Encyclopedia
Kukri Hills is a prominent east-west trending range
, about 25 nautical miles (46.3 km) long and over 2000 metres (6,561.7 ft) high, forming the divide between Ferrar Glacier
on the south and Taylor Glacier
and Taylor Valley
on the north, in Victoria Land
, Antarctica.
The hills were discovered by the Discovery Expedition
(1901–04) and probably so named because its shape resembles that of the Kukri
, a Gurkha knife.
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
, about 25 nautical miles (46.3 km) long and over 2000 metres (6,561.7 ft) high, forming the divide between Ferrar Glacier
Ferrar Glacier
The Ferrar Glacier is an Antarctic glacier about long, flowing from the plateau of Victoria Land west of the Royal Society Range to New Harbour in McMurdo Sound. The glacier makes a right turn northeast of Knobhead, where it is apposed, i.e., joined in Siamese-twin fashion, to Taylor Glacier...
on the south and Taylor Glacier
Taylor Glacier
The Taylor Glacier is an Antarctic glacier about long, flowing from the plateau of Victoria Land into the western end of Taylor Valley, north of the Kukri Hills, south of the Asgard Range...
and Taylor Valley
Taylor Valley
Taylor Valley is the southern one of the three large Dry Valleys in the Transantarctic Mountains, Victoria Land, located west of McMurdo Sound at approximately . The valley extends from Taylor Glacier in the west to McMurdo Sound at Explorers Cove at the northwest head of New Harbour in the east...
on the north, in Victoria Land
Victoria Land
Victoria Land is a region of Antarctica bounded on the east by the Ross Ice Shelf and the Ross Sea and on the west by Oates Land and Wilkes Land. It was discovered by Captain James Clark Ross in January 1841 and named after the UK's Queen Victoria...
, Antarctica.
The hills were discovered by the Discovery Expedition
Discovery Expedition
The British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04, generally known as the Discovery Expedition, was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since James Clark Ross's voyage sixty years earlier...
(1901–04) and probably so named because its shape resembles that of the Kukri
Kukri
The kukri is a curved Nepalese Knife, similar to the machete, used as both a tool and as a weapon...
, a Gurkha knife.
List of mountains
- Mount Barnes (77°38′S 163°35′E) is a peakSummit (topography)In topography, a summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically, a summit is a local maximum in elevation...
, 985 metres (3,231.6 ft), surmounting the west-central side of New Harbour and marking the east end of the Kukri Hills. Discovered by the Discovery expedition, 1901–04, under ScottRobert Falcon ScottCaptain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
, and named New Harbour Heights. It was renamed Mount Barnes after a Canadian ice physicist by Scott's second expedition, the British Antarctic ExpeditionTerra Nova ExpeditionThe Terra Nova Expedition , officially the British Antarctic Expedition 1910, was led by Robert Falcon Scott with the objective of being the first to reach the geographical South Pole. Scott and four companions attained the pole on 17 January 1912, to find that a Norwegian team led by Roald...
, 1910-13.
- Mount Brearley (77°48′S 161°45′E) is a sharp peak, 2010 metres (6,594.5 ft), which is the westernmost summit of the Kukri Hills. Named by the Western Journey Party, led by Thomas Griffith TaylorThomas Griffith TaylorThomas Griffith "Grif" Taylor was a British / Australian geographer, anthropologist and world explorer. He was a survivor of Captain Robert Scott's ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition to Antarctica .-Early life:...
, of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-13.
- Sentinel Peak (77°47′S 162°23′E) is a conspicuous, pointed peak over 2000 metres (6,561.7 ft), standing at the north side of Ferrar GlacierFerrar GlacierThe Ferrar Glacier is an Antarctic glacier about long, flowing from the plateau of Victoria Land west of the Royal Society Range to New Harbour in McMurdo Sound. The glacier makes a right turn northeast of Knobhead, where it is apposed, i.e., joined in Siamese-twin fashion, to Taylor Glacier...
and forming the highest point in the south-central part of the Kukri Hills. Discovered and named by the Discovery expedition 1901-04 under Scott.