Moltkenunatakker
Moltkenunatakker | ||
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location | Prinzregent-Luitpold-Land , East Antarctica | |
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Coordinates | 77 ° 58 ′ S , 35 ° 30 ′ W |
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 .
Web links
- Moltke Nunataks in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey (English)
- Molte Nunataks on geographic.org (English)