The Batterbee Mountains are a group of prominent mountains rising to , which forms part of the dissected edge of Dyer Plateau overlooking George VI Sound, on the west coast of

Palmer Land Palmer Land () is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica that lies south of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This application of Palmer Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the Advisory Committee on Antarctic N ...

. First seen and photographed from the air by Lincoln Ellsworth on 23 November 1935, they were charted from the ground in October 1936 by the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE) under

John Rymill John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, and named after Sir

Harry Batterbee Sir Harry Batterbee (19 September 1880 – 25 August 1976) was a prominent British civil servant and diplomat and the first British High Commissioner to New Zealand. Early life Batterbee was born in 1880 in Faversham, Kent in his parents' house ...

(1880–1976), Assistant Under-Secretary of State,

Dominions Office The position of Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs was a British cabinet-level position created in 1925 responsible for British relations with the Dominions – Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Newfoundland, and the Irish Free S ...

, 1930–38, and Chairman of the Polar Committee in 1934, who gave help to the expedition.

Geography

Unless otherwise noted, these features were first photographed by Ellsworth, charted by the BGLE under Rymill, and named by the

United Kingdom 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 ...

(UK-APC). The Batterbee Mountain range is split along its north–south axis by the Rowley Corridor, a pass which extends from

Ryder Glacier Ryder Glacier is a gently sloping glacier, 13 nautical miles (24 km) long and wide, flowing west from the Dyer Plateau of Palmer Land into George VI Sound to the south of Gurney Point. First surveyed in 1936 by the British Graham Land Exped ...

Conchie Glacier Conchie Glacier () is a glacier on the west coast of Palmer Land which flows southwest into George VI Sound between the Batterbee Mountains and the Steeple Peaks. It was named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee for Flight-Lieutenant Berti ...

and separates the inland peaks such as Mount Ness and Mount Bagshawe from the coastal peaks along the western edge of Palmer Land and George VI Sound. It was named for David N. Rowley, senior pilot with the

British Antarctic 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 ...

(BAS), 1969–74.

Coastal peaks

The northernmost feature of the Batterbee Mountains are the Christie Peaks, a conspicuous group of sharp peaks located immediately south of the terminus of Ryder Glacier. The group was named for Timothy J.C. Christie, a

(BAS) surveyor at Stonington Island, 1970–71. To the south along the coast is a group called the Tindley Peaks, rising to about between the Christie Peaks and McArthur Glacier. They were named for Roger C. Tindley, BAS general assistant and mechanic at

Fossil Bluff Fossil Bluff is a seasonal British aircraft refuelling station located on the east coast of Alexander Island in Antarctica. In operation since 1961, its facilities provide fuel, storage, and ancillary support for British exploration and operation ...

, 1973–75. At the west side of the Tindley Peaks is Horse Bluff, surveyed by the

from 1970, and so named from a distinctive feature on the bluff resembling a horse's head. South of the Tindley Peaks is McArthur Glacier. Swine Hill is the southernmost of two rugged, rocky knolls, high, which stand west-northwest of the summit of Mount Bagshawe on the west coast of Palmer Land. The hill overlooks Gadarene Lake, a

meltwater Meltwater is water released by the melting of snow or ice, including glacial ice, tabular icebergs and ice shelves over oceans. Meltwater is often found in the ablation zone of glaciers, where the rate of snow cover is reducing. Meltwater can be ...

lake long in the ice shelf of George VI Sound. Its eastern shore borders the exposed rocks of the west coast of Palmer Land. In summer a considerable volume of water enters the lake from the ravine immediately north of Swine Hill. The hill and the lake were surveyed in 1948 by the

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 ...

(FIDS), who erected a

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

on the summit. The names of these features comes from an incident where the expedition's sled dogs attempted to throw themselves and their sledge down the steep ice slopes into the water, which reminded the explorers of the Biblical Gadarene swine.

Inland peaks

Further inland to the east, but not far south of the Christie Peaks, is Mount Unicorn, named after the constellation of

Monoceros Monoceros (Greek: Μονόκερως, "unicorn") is a faint constellation on the celestial equator. Its definition is attributed to the 17th-century Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius. It is bordered by Orion to the west, Gemini to the north, ...

( The Unicorn). About southeast is Mount Ness, which stands high. It was named for Mrs. Patrick Ness, a donor to the BGLE. Mount Cadbury is the easternmost of the Batterbee Mountains, high, standing east-southeast of Mount Ness and inland from George VI Sound. It was named for Mrs. Henry Tyler Cadbury, a fundraiser for the BGLE. Pyxis Ridge, a narrow ridge of

nunatak A nunatak (from Inuit ''nunataq'') is the summit or ridge of a mountain that protrudes from an ice field or glacier that otherwise covers most of the mountain or ridge. They are also called glacial islands. Examples are natural pyramidal peaks. ...

s separated by passes, is located north-northwest of Mount Cadbury, projecting into the south side of Ryder Glacier. It was named by UK-APC after the constellation of Pyxis. The Puppis Pikes sit outside the Batterbee Mountains, northeast from Mount Cadbury. Mount Bagshawe is the tallest of the Batterbee Mountains at high. It stands inland from George VI Sound. It was first photographed with the rest of the range by Ellsworth, and was mapped from these photographs by

W.L.G. Joerg Wolfgang Louis Gottfried Joerg, better known as W. L. G. Joerg (February 6, 1885 – January 7, 1952) was an American geographer, and in particular an expert in the geography of the Arctic and Antarctic regions, who exercised broad influence on the ...

. It was named by UK-APC in 1954 for Sir Arthur W.G. Bagshawe. A rock nunatak called Thomson Rock sits east of Mount Bagshawe, along the eastern edge of the range. It was named for Michael R.A. Thomson,

(BAS) geologist. south of Mount Bagshawe, between

Armstrong Glacier Armstrong Glacier () is a glacier flowing from the south side of Mount Bagshawe westward into George VI Sound. It provides the only known safe route for mechanical vehicles from George VI Sound to the Palmer Land plateau. It was named by the Un ...

and

, is a group of smaller peaks called the Butler Peaks, named by UK-APC after

Peter F. Butler Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

, a

geophysicist at Stonington Island.

References

Mountain ranges of Palmer Land {{PalmerLand-geo-stub