Daniell Peninsula () is the large peninsula between Cape Daniell and Cape Jones on the coast of

Victoria Land Victoria Land is a region in eastern Antarctica which fronts the western side of the Ross Sea and the Ross Ice Shelf, extending southward from about 70°30'S to 78°00'S, and westward from the Ross Sea to the edge of the Antarctic Plateau. It ...

. It is partly separated from the

Victory Mountains The Victory Mountains () is a major group of mountains in Victoria Land, Antarctica, about long and wide, which is bounded primarily by Mariner and Tucker glaciers and the Ross Sea. The division between these mountains and the Concord Mountains ...

Whitehall Glacier Whitehall Glacier () is a large glacier flowing north into Tucker Inlet between Daniell Peninsula and the southeast part of the Victory Mountains, in Victoria Land. Named by New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition (NZGSAE), 1957–58, ...

, which is afloat in its lower reaches, but is joined to these mountains by the higher land in the vicinity of Mount Prior. It was named by the

New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition The New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition (NZGSAE) describes a series of scientific explorations of the continent Antarctica. The expeditions were notably active throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Features named by the expeditions 1957 ...

, 1957–58, after Cape Daniell, and by analogy with the Adare and Hallett peninsulas.

Geology

The peninsula is an elongated

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

dome similar to the Adare and Hallett peninsulas. It consists of at least four overlapping

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 ...

es that form part of the Hallett Volcanic Province of the

McMurdo Volcanic Group The McMurdo Volcanic Group is a large group of Cenozoic volcanic rocks in the western Ross Sea and central Transantarctic Mountains areas of Antarctica. It is one of the largest provinces of alkaline volcanism in the world, having formed as a res ...

Mount Brewster Mount Brewster may refer to: Antarctica *Mount Brewster, a mountain on the Daniell Peninsula, Victoria Land, Antarctica Canada * Mount Brewster (Canada), a mountain in the Vermilion Range of Banff National Park New Zealand * Mount Brewster (New ...

forms the central portion of the Daniell Peninsula and rises to an elevation of , forming the highest point on the peninsula. K–Ar or Rb–Sr dating has given an age of 12.4 ± 0.2 million years for Mount Brewster pantelleritic

trachyte Trachyte () is an extrusive igneous rock composed mostly of alkali feldspar. It is usually light-colored and aphanitic (fine-grained), with minor amounts of mafic minerals, and is formed by the rapid cooling of lava enriched with silica and al ...

and an age of 6.9 ± 0.3 million years for Mount Brewster

hawaiite Hawaiite is an olivine basalt with a composition between alkali basalt and mugearite. It was first used as a name for some lavas found on the island of Hawaii. It occurs during the later stages of volcanic activity on oceanic islands such as Haw ...

lava. A second shield volcano forming the southern end of the peninsula is deeply dissected by the Mandible Cirque. It contains the small satellite vent of

Tousled Peak Tousled Peak () is a small ice-covered peak, 1,220 m, situated 3.5 nautical miles (6 km) northwest of the summit of Mount Lubbock in the south end of Daniell Peninsula, Victoria Land. The name given by New Zealand Antarctic Place-Na ...

and the prominent ice-draped cone-like peak of Mount Lubbock. A

dike Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to: General uses * Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian" * Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment * Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice * Dikes ...

cutting Mandible Cirque comenditic trachyte has given an age of 9.5 ± 0.1 million years. The Cape Daniell shield volcano at the northern end of the Daniell Peninsula has an elevation of , with its highest point being an unnamed peak. The summit area contains a flat region several kilometres wide that might be a small ice-filled

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

. Cape Daniell trachyte lava has an age of 5.8 ± 0.1 million years while Cape Daniell

benmoreite Benmoreite is a silica-undersaturated volcanic rock of intermediate composition. It is a sodium-rich variety of trachyandesite and belongs to the alkalic suite of igneous rocks. Nepheline benmoreite An origin by fractionation from basanite th ...

lava has an age of 5.6 ± 0.5 million years.

References

Peninsulas of Antarctica Landforms of Victoria Land Borchgrevink Coast Volcanoes of Victoria Land Miocene shield volcanoes Shield volcanoes of Antarctica {{BorchgrevinkCoast-geo-stub