Moltkenunatakker

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Moltkenunatakker
location Prinzregent-Luitpold-Land , East Antarctica
Moltkenunatakker (Antarctica)
Moltkenunatakker
Coordinates 77 ° 58 ′  S , 35 ° 30 ′  W Coordinates: 77 ° 58 ′  S , 35 ° 30 ′  W
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The Moltkenunatakker (old spelling Moltke-Nunataks ) are several ice-free rock ridges on the coast of Prinzregent-Luitpold-Land in Antarctica .

Discovery and geographic location

The Nunatakker were discovered in January 1912 by the second German Antarctic expedition under Wilhelm Filchner and named after the brothers Helmuth and Friedrich von Moltke . Besides the Bertrabnunatakkern and the Littlewood Nunataks , these were the only ice-free regions that were sighted by this expedition.

The Nunatakker are located in the upper part of a slope that descends steeply to the Weddell Sea and is dominated by a glacier break. Due to the advancement and regular breaking of the glacier front, not only the ice-free area of ​​the nunatakkers varies, but also their number. In the 1960s four nunatakkers were counted, today there are three. The largest nunatak forms a cliff more than 120 m long , the two smaller ones are up to 50 m long.

geology

The avalanche-prone location under the glacier break has prevented a more detailed geological investigation. Folded rocks can be seen in aerial photographs, and an Indian expedition collected some broken slate and marble pieces from the sea ​​ice below the cliff. Since the Bertrab and Littlewood Nunatakker, which are only 20 km away and slightly higher, consist of 1060 mya old, unfolded rhyolites , it is assumed that the Moltkenunatakker are part of the older basement of the Antarctic continent below .

literature

  • Georg Kleinschmidt : Geology of nunataks of Prinzregent-Luitpold-Land (Coats Land, Antarctica) and their geotectonic importance . In: Courier Research Institute Senckenberg . tape 237 , 2002, pp. 1-14 .
  • Raina et al .: Geology of the Nunataks Littlewood, Bertrab and Moltke in Weddell Sea area (West Antarctica) . In: Scientific Report to the Indian Expedition to Weddell Sea . tape 7 , 1995, p. 25-52 .

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