Group of mountain ranges in Antarctica
The Ford Ranges (
77°0′S 144°0′W / 77.000°S 144.000°W / -77.000; -144.000 (Ford Ranges ) ) are a collection of mountain groups and ranges standing east of
Sulzberger Ice Shelf and
Block Bay in the northwest part of
Marie Byrd Land , Antarctica.
The Ford Ranges lie along the coast of Marie Byrd Land to the south and east of the
Sulzberger Ice Shelf and to the east of
Block Bay .
The ranges and major glaciers are, from southwest to northeast,
Hershey Ridge ,
Haines Mountains ,
Hammond Glacier ,
Swope Glacier ,
Mackay Mountains ,
Boyd Glacier ,
Sarnoff Mountains ,
Allegheny Mountains ,
Clark Mountains ,
Arthur Glacier ,
Denfeld Mountains ,
Crevasse Valley Glacier ,
Chester Mountains ,
Fosdick Mountains ,
Balchen Glacier and
Phillips Mountains .
A 1945 report defines the Southern Ford Ranges as the ranges between
McKinley Peak and the Balchen Glacier, which excludes the Phillips Mountains.
They cover an area of about 7,000 square miles (18,000 km2 ).
This portion of the mountainous coastland of Marie Byrd Land is one of the few areas in Antarctica where there are enough rock outcrops to make it practical to undertake geological mapping.
A 1991 report defines the Northern Ford Ranges as including the Phillips, Fosdick and Chester Mountains.
The Fosdick Mountains contain high-grade metamorphic rocks, while the Phillips and Chester Mountains have outcroppings of plutonic rocks.
The
Devonian Ford granodiorite is found in the Phillips, Chester and Denfield Mountains.
The
Cretaceous Byrd Coast granite is found throughout the Ford Ranges.
The Ford Ranges were discovered by the
Byrd Antarctic Expedition (ByrdAE) on December 5, 1929.
They were named by
Richard E. Byrd for
Edsel Ford of the
Ford Motor Company , who helped finance the expedition.
Hammond Glacier (
77°25′S 146°00′W / 77.417°S 146.000°W / -77.417; -146.000 (Hammond Glacier ) ), a glacier on the northeast side of the
Haines Mountains , flowing northwest for about 40 nautical miles (74 km; 46 mi) to Sulzberger Ice Shelf.
Swope Glacier (
77°20′S 145°50′W / 77.333°S 145.833°W / -77.333; -145.833 (Swope Glacier ) ), a glacier which drains westward from the Ford Ranges, between
Mount Woodward and
Mount West , into Sulzberger Ice Shelf.
Boyd Glacier (
77°14′S 145°25′W / 77.233°S 145.417°W / -77.233; -145.417 (Boyd Glacier ) ), a heavily crevassed glacier flowing west-northwest for about 45 nautical miles (83 km; 52 mi) to the Sulzberger Ice Shelf between
Bailey Ridge and
Mount Douglass .
Arthur Glacier (
77°03′S 145°15′W / 77.050°S 145.250°W / -77.050; -145.250 (Arthur Glacier ) ), a valley glacier about 25 nautical miles (46 km; 29 mi) long, flowing west to Sulzberger Ice Shelf between the
Swanson Mountains on the north and
Mount Rea and
Mount Cooper on the south.
Crevasse Valley Glacier (
76°46′S 145°30′W / 76.767°S 145.500°W / -76.767; -145.500 (Crevasse Valley Glacier ) ), a broad glacier about 30 nautical miles (56 km; 35 mi) long, flowing west-southwest between
Chester Mountains and
Saunders Mountain .
Balchen Glacier (
76°23′S 145°10′W / 76.383°S 145.167°W / -76.383; -145.167 (Balchen Glacier ) ), a crevassed glacier flowing west to Block Bay between the
Phillips Mountains and
Fosdick Mountains .
Northern part of Ford Ranges, to the east
The northern mountain ranges and groups are, from north to south
Southern part of Ford Ranges
The southern mountain ranges and groups are, from west to east,
Hershey Ridge (
77°40′S 147°10′W / 77.667°S 147.167°W / -77.667; -147.167 (Hershey Ridge ) ), a low, ice-covered ridge trending in a northwest–southeast direction for about 30 nautical miles (56 km; 35 mi) between
McKinley Peak and the
Haines Mountains .
Haines Mountains (
77°34′S 146°20′W / 77.567°S 146.333°W / -77.567; -146.333 (Haines Mountains ) ), a range of ice-capped mountains trending northwest–southeast for about 25 nautical miles (46 km; 29 mi) and forming the southwest wall of
Hammond Glacier .
Mackay Mountains (
77°30′S 143°20′W / 77.500°S 143.333°W / -77.500; -143.333 (Mackay Mountains ) ), a prominent group of peaks 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) south of the
Allegheny Mountains .
Sarnoff Mountains (
77°10′S 145°0′W / 77.167°S 145.000°W / -77.167; -145.000 (Sarnoff Mountains ) ), a range of mountains, 251 nautical miles (465 km; 289 mi) long and 4 to 8 nautical miles (7.4 to 14.8 km; 4.6 to 9.2 mi) wide separating the west-flowing
Boyd Glacier and
Arthur Glacier .
Allegheny Mountains (
77°15′S 143°18′W / 77.250°S 143.300°W / -77.250; -143.300 (Allegheny Mountains ) ), a small group of mountains 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) west of the
Clark Mountains .
Clark Mountains (
77°16′S 142°0′W / 77.267°S 142.000°W / -77.267; -142.000 (Clark Mountains ) ), a group of low mountains rising above 1,200 metres (3,900 ft). They are about 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) east of the
Allegheny Mountains .
Denfeld Mountains (
76°55′S 144°45′W / 76.917°S 144.750°W / -76.917; -144.750 (Denfeld Mountains ) ), a group of scattered mountains between
Crevasse Valley Glacier and
Arthur Glacier .
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 .
Boyd Glacier , USGS: United States Geological Survey, retrieved 2024-03-25
Guest Peninsula , USGS: United States Geological Survey, retrieved 2024-03-25
Luyendyk, Bruce P.; Richard, Steve M.; Smith, Christine; Kimbrough, David L. (1991),
"Geological and geophysical investigations in the northern Ford Ranges, Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica" (PDF) , Antarctic Journal , retrieved 2024-03-29
Warner, Lawrence A. (30 April 1945),
"Structure and Petrography of the Southern Edsel Ford Ranges, Antarctica" , Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society , 89.1 (Reports on Scientific Results of the United States Antarctic Service Expedition, 1939–1941): 78–122, retrieved 2024-03-29