Mount Murphy

Mount Murphy is a massive, snow-covered and highly eroded shield volcano in Marie Byrd Land of West Antarctica with steep, rocky slopes. It is directly south of Bear Peninsula and is bounded by the Smith, Pope and Haynes Glaciers. Volcanic activity began in the Miocene with the eruption of basaltic and trachytic lava. Volcanism on the slopes of the volcano resumed much later during the Pleistocene, with a parasitic cone having been K–Ar dated to 0.9 million years old.[2]

Mount Murphy
Aerial view of Mount Murphy
Highest point
Elevation2,705 m (8,875 ft) [1]
Prominence2,055 m (6,742 ft) [1]
ListingUltra
Coordinates75°20′S 110°44′W [1]
Geography
Mount Murphy
Location in Antarctica
LocationMarie Byrd Land, Antarctica
Geology
Age of rockUnknown
Mountain typeShield volcano
Volcanic fieldMarie Byrd Land Volcanic Province
Last eruptionPleistocene[2]

Delineated from aerial photographs taken by US Navy Operation Highjump in January 1947. Named by US-ACAN for Robert Cushman Murphy of the American Museum of Natural History, noted authority on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic bird life. While serving on the whaler, he charted the Bay of Isles region of South Georgia.

Features

Bucher Peak (75°20′S 110°52′W) at 2,445 metres (8,020 ft), is one of the highest peaks in the west-central summit area of the Mount Murphy massif. Buettner Peak is a sharp peak rising midway along the north wall of Roos Glacier in the northwest part of the Mount Murphy massif.

See also

References
  1. "Antarctica Ultra-Prominences" Peaklist.org. Retrieved 2012-09-07.
  2. "Murphy". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2016-04-27.

Sources
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