Schmitt Mesa is a
mesa
A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by ...
in Antarctica named after
Waldo L. Schmitt.
It is a prominent, mainly ice-covered mesa, 15 mi long and 5 mi wide, forming the southern rampart of
Latady Mountains
The Latady Mountains are a group of mountains rising west of Gardner Inlet, Orville Coast, between Wetmore Glacier and Ketchum Glacier, in southeastern Palmer Land, Antarctica. They rise to about and include from north to south Mount Aaron, McL ...
at the base of
Antarctic Peninsula
The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martín in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctic ...
.
It was mapped by USGS from surveys and USN air photos, 1961–67. Named by US-ACAN for Schmitt, marine biologist, Honorary Research Associate of the Smithsonian Institution. Schmitt was aboard
Fleurus
Fleurus (; wa, Fleuru) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It has been the site of four major battles.
The municipality consists of the following districts: Brye, Heppignies, Fleurus, Lambusart, ...
at
Deception Island
Deception Island is an island in the South Shetland Islands close to the Antarctic Peninsula with a large and usually "safe" natural harbor, which is occasionally troubled by the underlying active volcano. This island is the caldera of an act ...
in 1927. He participated in the Staten Island cruise to
Marguerite Bay
Marguerite Bay or Margaret Bay is an extensive bay on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula, which is bounded on the north by Adelaide Island and on the south by Wordie Ice Shelf, George VI Sound and Alexander Island. The mainland coast on th ...
and
Weddell Sea
The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre. Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula. The easternmost point is Cape Norvegia at Princess Martha ...
in the 1962–63 season.
See also
*
Latady Island
*
Mountain ranges of Antarctica
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...
References
External links
siarchives.si.edu
Mesas of Antarctica
Landforms of Palmer Land
{{PalmerLand-geo-stub