Transantarctic Mountains

mountain range in Antarctica

AI overview

The Transantarctic Mountains are a major mountain range that stretches across Antarctica, dividing the continent into distinct regions. They matter because they are one of Earth's longest mountain ranges and provide important information about Antarctica's geology and climate history.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Instance of: mountain range
Continent: Antarctica
Area: 584000
Elevation: 4528
Highest point: Mount Kirkpatrick
Material used: igneous rock
Image: Transantarctic mountain hg.jpg
Width: 300
Length: 3500

Show 6 more facts

native label: Transantarctic Mountains
located in/on physical feature: Antarctica
Commons category: Transantarctic Mountains
topic's main category: Category:Transantarctic Mountains
time period: Cambrian
on focus list of Wikimedia project: Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4

Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~9 min read

Encyclopedic overview

The Transantarctic Mountains (abbreviated TAM) comprise a mountain range of uplifted rock (primarily sedimentary) in Antarctica which extends, with some interruptions, across the continent from Cape Adare in northern Victoria Land to Coats Land. These mountains divide East Antarctica and West Antarctica. They include a number of separately named mountain groups, which are often again subdivided into smaller ranges.

The range was first sighted by James Clark Ross in 1841 at what was later named the Ross Ice Shelf in his honour. It was first crossed during the British National Antarctic Expedition of 1901-1904.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Transantarctic Mountains” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.