The Gneiss Hills () are two prominent hills, high, at the west side of
McLeod Glacier in the south part of
Signy Island, in the
South Orkney Islands
The South Orkney Islands are a group of islands in the Southern Ocean, about north-east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula[Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey
The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...]
, following their survey of 1947, because of a band of pink
gneiss
Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...
outcrops near the summits.
[
Gneiss Lake is a small lake on the west side of the hills. The lake is permanently ice covered and is visible only in summer when melting occurs at the perimeter. It was named in 1981 by the ]UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee
The UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (or UK-APC) is a United Kingdom government committee, part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, responsible for recommending names of geographical locations within the British Antarctic Territory (BAT) and ...
in association with the hills.[
]
References
Hills of the South Orkney Islands
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