TheTransantarctic Mountains (abbreviatedTAM) comprise amountain range of uplifted rock (primarilysedimentary) inAntarctica which extends, with some interruptions, across the continent fromCape Adare in northernVictoria Land toCoats Land. These mountains divideEast Antarctica andWest Antarctica. They include a number of separately named mountain groups, which are often again subdivided into smaller ranges.
The mountain range stretches between theRoss Sea and theWeddell Sea, the entire width of Antarctica, hence the name. With a total length of about 3,500 km (2,000 mi), the Transantarctic Mountains are one of the longest mountain ranges on Earth. TheAntarctandes are even longer, having in common with the Transantarctic Mountains the ranges fromCape Adare to the Queen Maud Mountains, but extending thence through theWhitmore Mountains andEllsworth Mountains up theAntarctic Peninsula. The 100–300 km (60–200 mi) wide range forms the boundary between East Antarctica and West Antarctica. The East Antarctic Ice Sheet bounds the TAM along their entire length on the Eastern Hemisphere side, while the Western Hemisphere side of the range is bounded by the Ross Sea inVictoria Land from Cape Adare toMcMurdo Sound, the Ross Ice Shelf from McMurdo Sound to near the Scott Glacier, and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet beyond.
The large summits and dry valleys of the TAM are some of the few places in Antarctica not covered by ice, the highest of which rise more than 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) above sea level. TheMcMurdo Dry Valleys lie near McMurdo Sound and represent a special Antarctic phenomenon: landscapes that are snow and ice-free due to the extremely limited precipitation and ablation of ice in the valleys. The highest mountain of the TAM is the 4,528 m (14,856 ft) highMount Kirkpatrick in theQueen Alexandra Range.
Penguins, seals, and sea birds live along the Ross Sea coastline in Victoria Land, while life in the interior of the Transantarctic Range is limited to bacteria,lichens,algae, and fungi. Forests once covered Antarctica, including plentifulWollemi pines andsouthern beeches.[1] However, with the gradual cooling associated with the break-up ofGondwana, these forests gradually disappeared.[1] It is believed that the last trees on the Antarctic continent were on Transantarctic Mountains.[1]
The Transantarctic Mountains were first seen byCaptain James Clark Ross in 1841 from the Ross Sea. The range is a natural barrier that must be crossed to reach theSouth Pole from theRoss Ice Shelf.
Much of the range remained unexplored until the late 1940s and 1950s, when missions such asOperation Highjump and theInternational Geophysical Year (IGY) made extensive use ofaerial photography and concentrated on a thorough investigation of the entire continent. The name "Transantarctic Mountains" was first applied to this range in a 1960 paper[2] by geologistWarren B. Hamilton, following his IGY fieldwork. It was subsequently recommended by theAdvisory Committee on Antarctic Names, a US authority on geographic names, in 1962. This purely descriptive label (in contrast to many othergeographic names on Antarctica) is internationally accepted at present.
The Transantarctic Mountains are considerably older than othermountain ranges of the continent, which are mainlyvolcanic in origin. The range wasuplifted during the opening of theWest Antarctic Rift System to the east, beginning about 65 million years ago in the earlyCenozoic, and soon after became occupied by glaciers.[3]
Ice from theEast Antarctic Ice Sheet flows through the Transantarctic Mountains via a series ofoutlet glaciers into the Ross Sea, Ross Ice Shelf, andWest Antarctic Ice Sheet. These glaciers generally flow perpendicular to the orientation of the range and define subranges and peak groups. It has been thought that many of these outlet glaciers follow the traces of large-scale geologicfaults. However, the ice flow theories will be re-evaluated in light of new data from recentice-penetrating radar surveys which revealed the presence of three previously unknown deep subglacial valleys affecting the "mountainous subglacial topography beneath the ice divide".[4] These geographic features are likely to have a significant impact on models and calculations related to ice flow through the Transantarctic Mountain region.[4]
