Mount Bird is a high
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 ...
standing about south of
Cape Bird
Cape Bird () is a cape which marks the north extremity of Ross Island in Antarctica. It was discovered in 1841 by a British expedition under James Clark Ross, and named by him after Lieutenant Edward J. Bird of the ship HMS ''Erebus''.
Cape Bird ...
, the northern extremity of
Ross Island
Ross Island is an island formed by four volcanoes in the Ross Sea near the continent of Antarctica, off the coast of Victoria Land in McMurdo Sound. Ross Island lies within the boundaries of Ross Dependency, an area of Antarctica claimed by New ...
. It was mapped by the
British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04
The ''Discovery'' Expedition of 1901–1904, known officially as the British National Antarctic Expedition, was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since the voyage of James Clark Ross sixty years earlier (1839–184 ...
, under
Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra Nov ...
, and apparently named by them after Cape Bird.
Endeavour Piedmont Glacier
Endeavour Piedmont Glacier is a piedmont glacier, long and wide, between the southwest part of Mount Bird and Micou Point, Ross Island. In association with the names of expedition ships grouped on this island, it was named after HMNZS Endeavour ...
lies on its slopes.
There are several western lobes of the Mount Bird icecap. One of these is Quaternary Icefall, which descends steeply into
Wohlschlag Bay
Wohlschlag Bay () is a large bay indenting the western side of Ross Island, Antarctica, and lying between Harrison Bluff and Cape Royds. It was first charted by the Discovery Expedition under Robert Falcon Scott, 1901–1904, then named by the ...
1 mile (1.6 km) south of
Cinder Hill
Cinder Hill () is a prominent dissected volcano, high, consisting of layers of red basalt scoria and cinders and abundant olivine nodules, standing between Harrison Stream and Wilson Stream on the ice-free lower west slopes of Mount Bird, Ro ...
. The site was mapped and so 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 ...
(NZGSAE), 1958–59, because of the Quaternary glacial period marine shells carried by the
glacier
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...
and deposited in terminal moraines.
Another such lobe is
Shell Glacier
Shell Glacier () is a western lobe of the Mount Bird icecap. It descends steeply in the valley north of Trachyte Hill and Harrison Bluff in the center of the ice-free area on the lower western slopes of Mount Bird, Ross Island
Ross Island is ...
.
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]
See also
*List of volcanoes in Antarctica
This is a list of volcanoes in Antarctica.
Table
A 2017 study claimed to have found 138 volcanoes, of which 91 were previously unknown. Some volcanoes are entirely under the ice sheet. Unconfirmed volcanoes are not included in the table below.
...
References
*
Mount Bird
, Volcano World
Volcanoes of Ross Island
Polygenetic shield volcanoes
Pliocene shield volcanoes
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