TheVestfold Hills are rounded, rocky, coastal hills, 512 square kilometres (198 sq mi) in extent,[1][2] on the north side ofSorsdal Glacier on theIngrid Christensen Coast ofPrincess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica. The hills are subdivided by three west-trending peninsulas bounded by narrow fjords. Most of the hills range between 30 and 90 metres (98 and 300 ft) in height, with the highest summit reaching nearly 160 metres (520 ft).
The Vestfold Hills are largely snow- and ice-free and are thus classified as anAntarctic oasis. They contain a great variety of lake systems with over 300 lakes and ponds[3] including what is possibly the largest concentration ofmeromictic (stratified) lakes in the world.[4] This region contains 37 permanently stratified water bodies,[5] including six marine basins and seven seasonally isolated marine basins (SIMBs). These stratified basins also have great variety. They range in salinity from 4g L−1 to 235 g L−1, in temperature from −14 to 24 °C (6.8 to 75 °F), in depth from 5 to 110 metres (16 to 361 ft), in area from 3.6 to 146 hectares (8.9 to 360.8 acres) and surface level from 30 metres (98 ft) below to 29 metres (95 ft) above sea level.[4] The region contains a large lake,Lake Burton, as well as the smallerKrok Lake andCamp Lake.
The Vestfold Hills were discovered, and a landing was made in the northern portion, on February 20, 1935, by Captain Klarius Mikkelsen together with his wife and seven crew members (including the ship's dentist, Lief Sørsdal) of theNorwegianwhaling ship "Thorshavn" sent out byLars Christensen.Caroline Mikkelsen, thereby became the first woman to set foot on the Antarctic continent.[citation needed]
The Vestfold Hills are named afterVestfold, a county in Norway whereSandefjord, headquarters of the whaling industry, is located. This hill area and its off-lying islands were mapped from air photos taken by theLars Christensen Expedition (1936–37). Further brief landings were made byLincoln Ellsworth and several claims were made byHubert Wilkins in 1939. The area was photographed from the air by USNOperation Highjump (1946–47). Landings were made and exploration carried out in 1954 and 1955 by ANARE (Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions) led byPhillip Law.Davis Station was established by ANARE in January 1957.[6]
68°33′S78°15′E / 68.550°S 78.250°E /-68.550; 78.250
This article incorporatespublic domain material from"Vestfold Hills".Geographic Names Information System.United States Geological Survey. 
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