Mount Bursey is a broad, ice-covered mountain, high, which forms the eastern end of the

Flood Range The Flood Range () is an Antarctic range of large snow-covered mountains extending in an E-W direction for about 96 km (60 mi) and forming a right angle with the southern end of the Ames Range in Marie Byrd Land. Discovered by the Byrd ...

Marie Byrd Land Marie Byrd Land (MBL) is an unclaimed region of Antarctica. With an area of , it is the largest unclaimed territory on Earth. It was named after the wife of American naval officer Richard E. Byrd, who explored the region in the early 20th centur ...

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 contine ...

. It was discovered by members of the

United States Antarctic Service The United States Antarctic Program (or USAP; formerly known as the United States Antarctic Research Program or USARP and the United States Antarctic Service or USAS) is an organization of the United States government which has presence in the A ...

(USAS) on aerial flights in 1940, and named for Jacob Bursey, member of the

Byrd Antarctic Expedition Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer and explorer. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, p ...

(1928–30) and dog-driver with the USAS party which sledged to the west end of the Flood Range in December 1940.

Volcanism

Mount Bursey consists of two coalescing

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, namely Hutt Peak and Koerner Bluff. Each shield contains a diameter

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 ...

at its summit. Potassium–argon dating has indicated both shields formed during the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

epoch In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured. The moment of epoch is usually decided by ...

, with volcanism at Hutt Peak occurring as recently as 0.49 million years ago. Starbuck Crater is a volcanic cone on the mountain.

Named features

Several features of Mount Bursey have been named by various groups of surveyors and explorers. Along the mountain's northwest margin lies Koerner Bluff, a bare rock bluff. Below Koener Bluff, about one mile (1.6 km) to the north, sits Syrstad Rock, a rock outcrop. Both features were first mapped by the

United States Geological Survey 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, ...

(USGS) from surveys and

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

air photos collected from 1959 to 1965, and were named by the

Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (ACAN or US-ACAN) is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending commemorative names for features in Antarctica. History The committee was established ...

(US-ACAN). Koerner Bluff was named for Roy M. Koerner, a

United States Antarctic Research Program The United States Antarctic Program (or USAP; formerly known as the United States Antarctic Research Program or USARP and the United States Antarctic Service or USAS) is an organization of the United States government which has presence in the A ...

(USARP) glaciologist with the Byrd Station Traverse, 1962–63. Syrstad Rock was named for Erik Syrstad, ionospheric

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

South Pole Station South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

, 1970.

References

Flood Range Volcanoes of Marie Byrd Land Calderas of Antarctica Polygenetic shield volcanoes Miocene shield volcanoes Pleistocene shield volcanoes {{MarieByrdLand-geo-stub

Volcanism

Named features

See also

References