The Spenser Mountains is a topographic

landform A landform is a land feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other planetary body. They may be natural or may be anthropogenic (caused or influenced by human activity). Landforms together make up a given terrain, and their arrangement ...

in the northern

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Located at the southern end of the

Nelson Lakes National Park Nelson Lakes National Park is in the South Island of New Zealand, at the northern end of the Southern Alps. It was created in 1956 (one of four created in the 1950s). The park contains beech forests, multiple lakes, snow-covered mountains and v ...

and north of the Lewis Pass they form a natural

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

between the

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

and Tasman regions. Several peaks are named after characters in

Edmund Spenser Edmund Spenser (; – 13 January 1599 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the House of Tudor, Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is re ...

’s allegorical poem,

The Faerie Queene ''The Faerie Queene'' is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Books IIII were first published in 1590, then republished in 1596 together with books IVVI. ''The Faerie Queene'' is notable for its form: at over 36,000 lines and over 4,000 sta ...

. Many of the early explorers were evidently literate men. For example, Frederick Weld (a surveyor) named Lake Tennyson; William Travers (a solicitor) named the Spensers and Faerie Queene; Julius Haast named Mt Una. Within the range prominent peaks include Mount Una and Mount Humboldt. The Spenser Mountains are the northern limit of the

glaciers A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

within the

Southern Alps The Southern Alps (; officially Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana) are a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand, New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the range's western side. The n ...

. Much of the forest cover is beech/ podocarp with understory of a variety of ferns and shrubs; crown fern (''Lomaria discolor'') is one of the dominant understory ferns.C. Michael Hogan. 2009

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References

* Thomas Adolphus Bowden and

James Hector Sir James Hector (16 March 1834 – 6 November 1907) was a Scottish-New Zealand geologist, naturalist, and surgeon who accompanied the Palliser Expedition as a surgeon and geologist. He went on to have a lengthy career as a government employed ...

. 1869. ''Manual of New Zealand geography'' * C. Michael Hogan. 2009
''Crown Fern: Blechnum discolor'', Globaltwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg

Notes

Mountain ranges of the Canterbury Region Mountain ranges of the Tasman District Nelson Lakes National Park {{Tasman-geo-stub

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See also

References

Notes