The Heritage Range is a major

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

, long and wide, situated southward of Minnesota Glacier and forming the southern half of the

Ellsworth Mountains The Ellsworth Mountains are the highest mountain ranges in Antarctica, forming a long and wide chain of mountains in a north to south configuration on the western margin of the Ronne Ice Shelf in Marie Byrd Land. They are bisected by Minnesota ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. The range is complex, consisting of scattered ridges and

peaks Peak or The Peak may refer to: Basic meanings Geology * Mountain peak ** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics * Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion * Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-d ...

of moderate height, escarpments, hills and nunataks, with the various units of relief set off by numerous intervening glaciers. The northern portion of the range was probably first sighted by

Lincoln Ellsworth Lincoln Ellsworth (May 12, 1880 – May 26, 1951) was a polar explorer from the United States and a major benefactor of the American Museum of Natural History. Biography Lincoln Ellsworth was born on May 12, 1880, to James Ellsworth and Eva F ...

in the course of his trans-Antarctic flight of November 23, 1935. On December 14, 1959, the southern range was seen for the first time in a reconnaissance flight from Byrd Station, made by Edward C. Thiel, J. C. Craddock and E. S. Robinson. The team landed at a glacier on Pipe Peak, in the northwestern part of the range, on December 26.Gerald F. Webers, et al., ''Geology and Paleontology of the Ellsworth Mountains, West Antarctica'' (Geological Society of America, 1992), p. xi During the 1962–63 and 1963–64 seasons, the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

expeditions made geologic and cartographic surveys of the range. The entire range was mapped by

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

from aerial photographs taken by the U.S. Navy, 1961–66. The Heritage range was so named by US-ACAN because topographic units within the range have received names relating to the theme of American

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physica ...

Maps

Union Glacier.
Scale 1:250 000 topographic map. Reston, Virginia: US Geological Survey, 1966.
Liberty Hills.
Scale 1:250 000 topographic map. Reston, Virginia: US Geological Survey, 1966.
Antarctic Digital Database (ADD).
Scale 1:250000 topographic map of Antarctica. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). Since 1993, regularly updated. File:Union-Glacier.jpg, Map of northern Heritage Range File:Liberty-Hills.jpg, Map of southern Heritage Range

Features

Geographical features include:

Anderson Massif

Douglas Peaks

Dunbar Ridge

Edson Hills

Enterprise Hills

Founders Peaks

Smith Ridge

Other Founders Peaks features

Frazier Ridge

Gifford Peaks

Independence Hills

Liberty Hills (Antarctica)

Meyer Hills

Pioneer Heights

Gross Hills

Inferno Ridge

Nimbus Hills

=Samuel Nunataks

=Other Nimbus Hills features

Other Pioneer Heights features

Soholt Peaks

Watlack Hills

Webers Peaks

Other features

* Barrett Nunataks *

Bingham Peak Bingham Peak () is a sharp peak, high, located southeast of Springer Peak in the Heritage Range, Ellsworth Mountains. It was mapped by the United States Geological Survey from ground surveys and from U.S. Navy air photos, 1961–66, and named b ...

* Cagle Peaks * Carnell Peak *

Charles Peak Charles Peak () is a bare rock peak, high, surmounting the southeast end of the Collier Hills in the Heritage Range. It was mapped by the United States Geological Survey from surveys and from U.S. Navy air photos, 1961–66, and named by the Advi ...

Cunningham Peak Cunningham Peak () is a mainly ice-covered peak, high, at the head of Gowan Glacier along the Founders Escarpment, in the Heritage Range. It was mapped by the United States Geological Survey from surveys and from U.S. Navy air photos, 1961–66, ...

* Dott Ice Rise * Driscoll Glacier *

Dybvadskog Peak Dybvadskog Peak () is a sharp, somewhat isolated peak, high, the westernmost of those rising above the ice surface just west of the southern part of the Founders Escarpment, in the Heritage Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. It was mapp ...

Founders Escarpment Founders Escarpment is a prominent escarpment located west of the Founders Peaks in the Heritage Range of Antarctica, extending from Minnesota Glacier to Splettstoesser Glacier. It was named after the nearby Founders Peaks by the University of Min ...

Fusco Nunatak Fusco Nunatak () is the westernmost of the Wilson Nunataks, located just west of Hercules Inlet, at the southeastern extremity of the Heritage Range, Antarctica. It was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for aviation electrician T ...

Gould Spur Gould Spur is a spur, long, that extends from Navigator Peak to the south side of Splettstoesser Glacier, in the Heritage Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. It was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (2004) after Patric ...

Gowan Glacier Gowan Glacier is a glacier about long in the Heritage Range of the Ellsworth Mountains of Antarctica, flowing north from the vicinity of Cunningham Peak in the Founders Escarpment to enter Minnesota Glacier just east of Welcome Nunatak. It w ...

Hall Peak Hall Peak () is a peak, high, in the Heritage Range of Antarctica, surmounting the dividing ridge at the upper reaches of Rennell Glacier, Schmidt Glacier and Larson Valley. It was named by the University of Minnesota Geological Party to these ...

* Hercules Inlet *

Herrin Peak Herrin Peak () is a large snow-covered peak, high, standing south of Landmark Peak on the east side of Gowan Glacier, in the Heritage Range of Antarctica. It was named by the University of Minnesota Geological Party of 1963–64 for John M. H ...

High Nunatak High Nunatak () is an isolated nunatak east of the Liberty Hills in the Heritage Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. It was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Elmer High, a helicopter crew chief with the 62nd Transp ...

Hoinkes Peak Hoinkes Peak is a sharp rock peak, high, standing at the head of Henderson Glacier, where it forms part of the west wall of the glacier, in the Heritage Range, Antarctica. It was mapped by the United States Geological Survey from surveys and U.S ...

* Hutto Peak * Landmark Peak * Linder Peak * Matney Peak * Mhire Spur * Minnesota Glacier * Mount Bursik * Mount Johns * Mount Rodger * Mount Twiss * Mount Woollard * Navigator Peak * Planck Point * Robinson Peak * Rutford Ice Stream * Schneider Glacier * Thompson Nunataks * Three Sails * Unger Peak * Weaver Nunataks * White Escarpment * Wilson Nunataks * Zavis Peak

References

External links

Ellsworth Mountains Mountain ranges of Ellsworth Land {{EllsworthLand-geo-stub