Usarp Mountains


The Usarp Mountains is a major Antarctic mountain range, lying westward of the Rennick Glacier and trending N-S for about. The feature is bounded to the north by Pryor Glacier and the Wilson Hills. Its important constituent parts include Welcome Mountain, Mount Van der Hoeven, Mount Weihaupt, Mount Stuart, Mount Lorius, Smith Bench, Mount Roberts, Pomerantz Tableland, Daniels Range, Emlen Peaks, Helliwell Hills and Morozumi Range.
Parts of these mountains were discovered and first photographed from aircraft of the U.S. Navy Operation Highjump, 1946–47. They were first sighted and entered by the U.S. Victoria Land Traverse 1959-1960, and the first ascent of Mount Welcome made by John Weihaupt, Alfred Stuart, Claude Lorius, and Arnold Heine of that traverse team. The mountains were completely mapped by USGS from VLT reports, U.S. Navy air photos, 1960–63, and subsequent surveys. The name is an acronym of the United States Antarctic Research Program, and was applied by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names in recognition of the accomplishments of that program in Antarctica.
A detailed account of the Victoria Land Traverse appears in the Geological Society of Americas SPECIAL PAPER 488, dated 2012.

List of mountains