The Orvin Mountains constitute a major group of mountain range

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...

s, extending for about 65 miles between the Wohlthat Mountains

Wohlthat Mountains

Wohlthat Mountains is a large group of associated mountain features consisting of the Humboldt Mountains, Petermann Ranges, and the Gruber Mountains, located immediately east of the Orvin Mountains in Fimbulheimen in the central Queen Maud Land. Discovered by the Third German Antarctic Expedition ,...

 and the Mühlig-Hofmann Mountains

Mühlig-Hofmann Mountains

The Mühlig-Hofmann Mountains is a major group of associated mountain features extending east to west for 65 miles between the Gjelsvik Mountains and the Orvin Mountains in Queen Maud Land, East Antarctica...

 in Queen Maud Land

Queen Maud Land

Queen Maud Land is a c. 2.7 million-square-kilometre region of Antarctica claimed as a dependent territory by Norway. The territory lies between 20° west and 45° east, between the British Antarctic Territory to the west and the Australian Antarctic Territory to the east. The latitudinal...

. With its summit

Summit (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...

 at 3055 metres (10,023 ft), the massive Sandeggtind Peak

Sandeggtind Peak

Sandeggtind Peak is a tall peak, standing 1 mi south of Sandho Heights on Sandegga Ridge in the Conrad Mountains, Queen Maud Land. Discovered and photographed by the Third German Antarctic Expedition , led by Capt. Alfred Ritscher. Mapped by Norway from air photos and surveys by NorAE,...

 forms the highest point in the Conrad Mountains

Conrad Mountains

The Conrad Mountains are a narrow chain of mountains, long, located between the Gagarin Mountains and Mount Dallmann in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. The Conrad Mountains are a subrange of the Orvin Mountains...

, a subrange of the Orvin Mountains.

Discovery and naming

First photographed from the air and roughly plotted by the Third German Antarctic Expedition (1938-1939), led by Capt. Alfred Ritscher

Alfred Ritscher

Alfred Ritscher was a German polar explorer. A captain in the German Navy, he led the third German Antarctic Expedition in 1938-39, which mapped the New Swabia area of Queen Maud Land. Ritscher Peak and Ritscher Upland there are named for him.-External links:*...

. Mapped by Norwegian cartographers from surveys and air photos by the Sixth Norwegian Antarctic Expedition

Sixth Norwegian Antarctic Expedition

The sixth Norwegian Antarctic Expedition was a scientific expedition to Queen Maud Land, intended as part of Norway's participation in the International Geophysical Year, 1957-58. The crew set sail from Oslo on board two whaling ships, the Polarsirkel and Polarbjørn, on November 10, 1956. They...

 (1956-60) and named for Anders K. Orvin

Anders K. Orvin

Anders Kristian Orvin was a Norwegian geologist and explorer. The Orvin Mountains in Queen Maud Land in Antarctica are named after him....

, director of the Norwegian Polar Institute

Norwegian Polar Institute

The Norwegian Polar Institute is Norway's national institution for polar research. It is run under the auspices of the Norwegian Ministry of Environment. The institute organizes expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic regions and runs a research station at Ny-Ålesund...

 from 1958 to 1959.

Constituent ranges

Constituent ranges of Orvin Mountains, listed from east to west:

• Shcherbakov Range
  Shcherbakov Range
  Shcherbakov Range is a mountain range trending north-south for 20 miles , standing immediately east of Mount Dallmann where it marks the east extremity of the Orvin Mountains, in Queen Maud Land. Discovered and plotted from air photos by German Antarctic Expedition, 1938-39...
  
  
• Mount Dallmann
  Mount Dallmann
  Mount Dallmann is a bold mountain 11 mi E of the northern portion of the Conrad Mountains, in the Orvin Mountains of Queen Maud Land, Antarctica.Mount Dallmann was discovered by the Third German Antarctic Expedition , led by Capt...
  
  
• Conrad Mountains
  Conrad Mountains
  The Conrad Mountains are a narrow chain of mountains, long, located between the Gagarin Mountains and Mount Dallmann in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. The Conrad Mountains are a subrange of the Orvin Mountains...
  
  
• Gagarin Mountains
  Gagarin Mountains
  The Gagarin Mountains are a linear group of mountains, trending in a N-S direction for 10 miles between the Kurze Mountains and the Conrad Mountains of the Orvin Mountains in Queen Maud Land, East Antarctica.-Discovery and naming:...
  
  
• Kurze Mountains
  Kurze Mountains
  The Kurze Mountains are a range of mainly bare rock peaks, ridges and mountains about 20 nautical miles long and 6 nautical miles wide in the Orvin Mountains of Queen Maud Land...
  
  
• Drygalski Mountains
  Drygalski Mountains
  Drygalski Mountains is a group of scattered mountains and nunataks lying between the Filchner Mountains and Kurze Mountains in the Orvin Mountains of Queen Maud Land. Discovered by the Third German Antarctic Expedition , led by Capt. Alfred Ritscher, and named for Professor Erich von Drygalski,...
  
  
• Filchner Mountains
  Filchner Mountains
  Filchner Mountains is a mountain range 11 km southwest of Drygalski Mountains, at the west end of the Orvin Mountains of Queen Maud Land. Discovered by the Third German Antarctic Expedition , led by Capt. Alfred Ritscher, and named for Wilhelm Filchner, leader of the German expedition to the...
  
  

See also

• List of Antarctic expeditions
• East Antarctica Ranges
  East Antarctica Ranges
  The East Antarctica Ranges are one of the three largest mountain ranges in Antarctica, the others are the Transantarctic Mountains and West Antarctica Ranges. The East Antarctica Ranges, located on the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, have 29 known peaks whose summits reach or exceed 2000 meters above sea...
  
  
• East Antarctic two-thousanders
  East Antarctic two-thousanders
  The three largest mountain ranges in Antarctica are the Transantarctic Mountains, the West Antarctica Ranges, and the East Antarctica Ranges. The East Antarctica Ranges, located on the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, have 29 known peaks whose summits reach or exceed 2000 meters above sea level. These...
  
  

External links

• United States Geological Survey, Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)