Mount Murphy is a massive, snow-covered and highly eroded
shield volcano
A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more v ...
in
Marie Byrd Land
Marie Byrd Land (MBL) is an unclaimed region of Antarctica. With an area of , it is the largest unclaimed territory on Earth. It was named after the wife of American naval officer Richard E. Byrd, who explored the region in the early 20th centur ...
of
West Antarctica
West Antarctica, or Lesser Antarctica, one of the two major regions of Antarctica, is the part of that continent that lies within the Western Hemisphere, and includes the Antarctic Peninsula. It is separated from East Antarctica by the Transant ...
with steep, rocky slopes. It is directly south of
Bear Peninsula
Bear Peninsula () is a peninsula about 80 km (50 mi) long and 40 km (25 mi) wide which is ice covered except for several isolated rock bluffs and outcrops along its margins, lying 48 km 30 mi) east of Martin Peninsula ...
and is bounded by the
Smith,
Pope and
Haynes Glacier
Haynes Glacier () is a broad glacier flowing to the Walgreen Coast of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica, to the east of Mount Murphy. It was mapped by the United States Geological Survey from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1959–66, and was named by ...
s. Volcanic activity began in the
Miocene with the eruption of
basaltic and
trachytic lava. Volcanism on the slopes of the volcano resumed much later during the
Pleistocene, with a
parasitic cone having been
K–Ar dated to 0.9 million years old.
Delineated from aerial photographs taken by US Navy
Operation Highjump
Operation HIGHJUMP, officially titled The United States Navy Antarctic Developments Program, 1946–1947, (also called Task Force 68), was a United States Navy (USN) operation to establish the Antarctic research base Little America IV. The opera ...
in January 1947. Named by US-ACAN for
Robert Cushman Murphy of the American Museum of Natural History, noted authority on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic bird life. While serving on the whaler, he charted the Bay of Isles region of South Georgia.
Features
Bucher Peak
Bucher Peak () is, at , one of the highest peaks in the west-central summit area of the Mount Murphy massif, in Marie Byrd Land. It was mapped by the United States Geological Survey from surveys and from U.S. Navy air photos, 1959–66, and named b ...
() at , is one of the highest peaks in the west-central summit area of the Mount Murphy massif.
Buettner Peak
Buettner Peak () is a sharp peak rising midway along the north wall of Roos Glacier in the northwest part of the Mount Murphy massif, in Marie Byrd Land. It was mapped by the United States Geological Survey from surveys and from U.S. Navy aerial ph ...
is a sharp peak rising midway along the north wall of
Roos Glacier
Roos Glacier () is a steep glacier that drains the northwest slopes of Mount Murphy on Walgreen Coast, Marie Byrd Land. Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) after S. Edward Roos, oceanographer with the Byrd Antarctic Expedition ...
in the northwest part of the Mount Murphy massif.
See also
*
List of volcanoes in Antarctica
*
List of Ultras of Antarctica
This is a list of all the Ultra prominent peaks (with topographic prominence greater than 1,500 metres) in Antarctica. Some islands in the South Atlantic have also been included and can be found at the end of the list.
Antarctica
South Atl ...
References
Sources
*
*
External links
"Mount Murphy, Antarctica" on Peakbagger
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Mount
Polygenetic shield volcanoes
Volcanoes of Marie Byrd Land
Mount Murphy
Mount Murphy is a massive, snow-covered and highly eroded shield volcano in Marie Byrd Land of West Antarctica with steep, rocky slopes. It is directly south of Bear Peninsula and is bounded by the Smith, Pope and Haynes Glaciers. Volcanic ac ...
Pleistocene shield volcanoes