Mount Sidley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mount Sidley

Aerial view of the Mt. Sidley caldera from the southwest
Elevation 4,285 m (14,058 ft)[1]
Location Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica
Range Executive Committee Range
Prominence 2,517 m (8,258 ft)[2]
Coordinates 77°02′S 126°06′E
Type Shield volcano (extinct)

Mount Sidley is the highest volcano in Antarctica, a member of the Volcanic Seven Summits. It is a massive, mainly snow-covered shield volcano which is the highest and most imposing of the five extinct volcanic mountains that comprise the Executive Committee Range of Marie Byrd Land. The feature is marked by a spectacular caldera on the southern side and stands NE of Mount Waesche in the southern part of the range.

The mountain was discovered by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd on an airplane flight, November 18, 1934, and named by him for Mabelle E. Sidley, the daughter of William Horlick who was a contributor to the 1933–35 Byrd Antarctic Expedition. Despite its lofty status, the volcano languishes in obscurity due to its extremely remote location. It is little known even in the mountaineering world compared to the far more famous Mount Erebus, the second highest Antarctic volcano which is located near the U.S. and New Zealand bases on Ross Island.

Topographic map of Mounts Sidley and Waesche (1:250,000 scale)
Topographic map of Mounts Sidley and Waesche (1:250,000 scale)

[edit] References

  1. ^ USGS GNIS Mount Sidley. The topo map lists the elevation as 4,181 m (13,717 ft).
  2. ^ Antarctica on peaklist.org


In other languages