Wilkniss Mountains


Wilkniss Mountains is a prominent group of conical mountains, 10 miles long running north–south, located 9 miles east-southeast of Mount Feather, Quartermain Mountains, in Victoria Land, Antarctica. The mountains are 3 miles wide in the north portion where Mount Blackwelder and Pivot Peak rise above ice-free valleys. Except for an outlying southwest peak, the south portion narrows to a series of mainly ice-covered smaller peaks. Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names in 1992 after Peter E. Wilkniss, a chemist who from 1975 has served in various positions at the National Science Foundation, including Deputy Assistant Director of the Directorate for Scientific, Technological, and International Affairs; Director, Division of Polar Programs, 1984–93; senior science associate to the Assistant Director for Geosciences, from 1993.