Melville Peak is a prominent

peak 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)-di ...

surmounting Cape Melville, the eastern cape of King George Island, in the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 195 ...

off Antarctica. It represents an eroded

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...

of unknown age and contains a volcanic crater at its summit. A

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, created during volcano, volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used t ...

layer similar in composition to Melville Peak has been identified away from the volcano and may indicate Melville Peak has been volcanically active in the last few thousand years. This peak, which was probably known to early sealers in the area, was charted by the French Antarctic Expedition under

Jean-Baptiste Charcot Jean-Baptiste-Étienne-Auguste Charcot (15 July 1867 – 16 September 1936), born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, was a French scientist, medical doctor and polar scientist. His father was the neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–1893). Life Jean-Ba ...

, 1908–10, and takes its name from Cape Melville. It was climbed from the northeast in September 1949 by

Geoff Hattersley-Smith Geoffrey Francis Hattersley-Smith D.Phil, FRSC, FRGS, FAINA (22 April 1923 – 21 July 2012) was an English-born Canadian geologist and glaciologist, recognized as a pioneering researcher of Northern Canada.Wingrove, Josh (4 August 2012). ...

and Ken Pawson.

References

Mountains of King George Island (South Shetland Islands) Volcanoes of the South Shetland Islands Stratovolcanoes {{KingGeorgeIslandAQ-geo-stub

See also

References