Queen Fabiola Mountains is a group of

mountain 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 (topography), summit area, and ...

s in

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 ...

, long, consisting mainly of seven small

massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

s which trend north–south, forming a partial barrier to the flow of inland ice. The mountains stand in isolation about southwest of the head of Lutzow-Holm Bay. The mountains were discovered and photographed from aircraft by the

Belgian Antarctic Expedition The Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–1899 was the first expedition to winter in the Antarctic region. Led by Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery aboard the RV ''Belgica'', it was the first Belgian Antarctic expedition and is considered the firs ...

under

Guido Derom Guido is a given name Latinised from the Old High German name Wido. It originated in Medieval Italy. Guido later became a male first name in Austria, Germany, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and Switzerland. The mea ...

on 8 October 1960. With permission from

King Baudouin of Belgium Baudouin (;, ; nl, Boudewijn Albert Karel Leopold Axel Maria Gustaaf, ; german: Balduin Albrecht Karl Leopold Axel Maria Gustav. 7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993), Dutch name Boudewijn, was King of the Belgians from 17 July 1951 until his de ...

, the mountains were named after his newly wedded wife Fabiola. In November–December 1960, the mountains were visited by a party of the

Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition The refers to a series of Japanese Antarctic expeditions for scientific research. The first JARE expedition was launched in 1957 to coordinate with the International Geophysical Year. This was the team which left 15 dogs, including Taro and Ji ...

(JARE), 1957–1962, which made geomorphological and geological surveys. They applied the name Yamato Mountains. The highest massif is

Mount Fukushima Mount Fukushima is, at , the highest massif in the Queen Fabiola Mountains of Antarctica, standing just north of Yamato Glacier. The rock massif rises above the local ice surface and has many ragged peaks. It was discovered in 1960 by the Belgian ...

(2,470 m). The

(JARE) found the

Yamato 000593 Yamato 000593 (or Y000593) is the second largest meteorite from Mars found on Earth. Studies suggest the Martian meteorite was formed about 1.3 billion years ago from a lava flow on Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the sec ...

Martian meteorite A Martian meteorite is a rock that formed on Mars, was ejected from the planet by an impact event, and traversed interplanetary space before landing on Earth as a meteorite. , 277 meteorites had been classified as Martian, less than half a percen ...

in 2000 on the

Yamato Glacier The Yamato Glacier () is a glacier about 6 miles (10 km) wide, flowing west between Mount Fukushima and Mount Eyskens in the Queen Fabiola Mountains of Antarctica. Discovered by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition under Guido Derom, October 7 ...

, at the Queen Fabiola Mountains. With a mass of , Yamato 000593 is the second largest

meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...

from

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

found on

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

References

Mountain ranges of Queen Maud Land Prince Harald Coast {{QueenMaudLand-geo-stub

See also

References