part_of thiel mountains
The Neptune Range is a ___MASK49___ , long , lying WSW of Forrestal Range in the central part of the Pensacola Mountains in Antarctica . The range is composed of Washington Escarpment with its associated ridges , valleys and peaks , the Iroquois Plateau , and the Schmidt and Williams Hills . It was discovered and photographed on January 13 , 1956 on a US Navy transcontinental plane flight from McMurdo Sound to Weddell Sea and return . The Southern Hemisphere is the half sphere of ___MASK52___ which is south of the equator . It contains all or parts of five continents ( Antarctica , Australia , about 90 % of South America , the southern third of Africa , and several southern islands off the continental mainland of ___MASK78___ ), four oceans ( Indian , South Atlantic , Southern , and South Pacific ) and most of the Pacific Islands in Oceania . Its surface is 80 . 9 % water , compared with 60 . 7 % water in the case of the Northern Hemisphere , and it contains 32 . 7 % of ___MASK52___ ' s land . The South Pole , also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole , is one of the two points where the ___MASK52___ ' s axis of rotation intersects its surface . It is the southernmost point on the surface of the ___MASK52___ and lies on the opposite side of the ___MASK52___ from the North Pole . The Reedy ___MASK31___ is a major ___MASK31___ in Antarctica , over 160 km ( 100 mi ) long and from 10 to 19 km ( 6 to 12 mi ) wide , descending from the polar plateau to the Ross Ice Shelf between the Michigan Plateau and ___MASK62___ Range , and marking the limits of the Queen Maud Mountains on the west and the Horlick Mountains on the east . The Southern ___MASK28___ , also known as the Antarctic ___MASK28___ or the Austral ___MASK28___ , comprises the southernmost waters of the World ___MASK28___ , generally taken to be south of 60 ° S latitude and encircling Antarctica . As such , it is regarded as the fourth - largest of the five principal oceanic divisions : smaller than the Pacific , Atlantic , and Indian Oceans but larger than the Arctic ___MASK28___ . This ___MASK28___ zone is where cold , northward flowing waters from the Antarctic mix with warmer subantarctic waters . The Horlick Mountains are a ___MASK49___ in the ___MASK12___ of Antarctica , lying eastward of Reedy Glacier and including the Wisconsin Range , Long Hills and Ohio Range . Dufek Massif is a rugged , largely snow - covered massif long , standing west of the Forrestal Range in the northern ___MASK24___ of the Pensacola Mountains . It was discovered and photographed on ___MASK43___ 13 , 1956 on a transcontinental patrol plane flight of U . S . Navy Operation Deep Freeze from McMurdo Sound to the vicinity of the Weddell ___MASK38___ and return , and named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Rear Admiral George J . Dufek , U . S . Navy , who was in direct operational command of U . S . Navy Task Force 43 during that operation . The entire Pensacola Mountains were mapped by the U . S . Geological Survey in 1967 and 1968 from ground surveys and U . S . Navy tricamera aerial photographs taken in 1964 . Antarctica ( US ___MASK68___ , UK ___MASK68___ or ) is ___MASK52___ ' s southernmost continent . It contains the geographic South Pole and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere , almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle , and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean . At , it is the fifth - largest continent . For comparison , Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia . About 98 % of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages in thickness , which extends to all but the northernmost reaches of the ___MASK16___ . Support Force ___MASK31___ is a major ___MASK31___ in the Pensacola Mountains , draining northward between the Forrestal Range and Argentina Range to the Filchner - Ronne Ice Shelf . Mapped by the ___MASK95___ from surveys and US Navy air photos , 1956 - 66 . Named by US - ACAN for the U . S . Naval Support Force Antarctica , which provided logistical support for the United States Antarctic Program during this period . ___MASK52___ , otherwise known as the world , is the third planet from the Sun and the only object in the ___MASK76___ known to harbor life . It is the densest planet in the Solar System and the largest of the four terrestrial planets . The Ohio Range is a ___MASK49___ in the ___MASK12___ of Antarctica . It is about 48 km ( 30 mi ) long and 16 km ( 10 mi ) wide , extending WSW - ENE from Eldridge Peak to Mirsky Ledge . The range forms the northeast end of the Horlick Mountains and consists primarily of a large snow - topped plateau with steep northern cliffs and several flat - topped ridges and mountains . The highest point is the summit of Mount Schopf ( 2990 m ). A continent is one of several very large landmasses on ___MASK52___ . Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria , up to seven regions are commonly regarded as continents . Ordered from largest in size to smallest , they are : ___MASK78___ , Africa , North America , South America , Antarctica , Europe , and Australia . In geology , areas of continental crust include regions covered with water . ___MASK59___ , officially the Commonwealth of ___MASK59___ , is a ___MASK29___ comprising the mainland of the Australian continent , the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller ___MASK7___ . It is the world ' s sixth - largest ___MASK29___ by total area . The neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea , Indonesia and East Timor to the north ; the Solomon ___MASK7___ and Vanuatu to the north - east ; and New Zealand to the south - east . ___MASK59___ ' s capital is Canberra , and its largest urban area is Sydney . The Thiel Mountains are an isolated , mainly snow - capped ___MASK49___ in Antarctica which are 72 km ( 45 mi ) long . The mountains are located roughly between the Horlick Mountains and the Pensacola Mountains , and extend from Moulton Escarpment on the west to Nolan Pillar on the east . Major components include Ford Massif ( 2 , 810 m ) , Bermel Escarpment and a group of eastern peaks near Nolan Pillar . The mountains were observed and first positioned by the USARP Horlick Mountains Traverse Party , 1958 - 59 . The mountains were surveyed by the USGS Thiel Mountains parties of 1960 - 61 and 1961 - 62 . The Thiel Mountains were named by US - ACAN after Dr . Edward C . Thiel , traverse seismologist at Ellsworth Station and the Pensacola Mountains in 1957 . In December 1959 , he made airlifted geophysical observations along the 88th meridian west , including work near these mountains . Thiel perished with four others on November 9 , 1961 in the crash of a P2V Neptune aircraft soon after take - off from Wilkes Station . An aircraft fuel cache ( 85 ° 12  S 087 ° 53  W ) is located near the Thiel Mountains for planes traveling between the Union Glacier Camp and the Amundsen -- Scott South Pole Station . The Forrestal Range is a largely snow - covered ___MASK49___ , about 105 km ( 65 mi ) long , standing east of Dufek Massif and the Neptune Range in the Pensacola Mountains of Antarctica . Discovered and photographed on January 13 , 1956 on a transcontinental patrol plane flight of U . S . Navy Operation Deep Freeze I from McMurdo Sound to the vicinity of the Weddell Sea and return . Plate tectonics ( from the Late Latin " tectonicus ", from the " pertaining to ___MASK100___ ") is a scientific theory describing the large - scale motion of 7 large plates and the movements of a larger number of smaller plates of the ___MASK52___ ' s lithosphere , over the last hundreds of millions of years . The theoretical model builds on the concept of ___MASK67___ developed during the first few decades of the 20th century . The geoscientific community accepted plate - tectonic theory after seafloor spreading was validated in the late 1950s and early 1960s . The Pensacola Mountains are a large group of mountain ranges and peaks in ___MASK98___ Elizabeth Land , Antarctica , extending 450 km ( 280 mi ) in a NE - SW direction , comprising the Argentina Range , Forrestal Range , Dufek Massif , Cordiner Peaks , Neptune Range , Patuxent Range , Rambo Nunataks and Pecora Escarpment . These mountain units lie astride the extensive Foundation Ice Stream and Support Force ___MASK31___ which drain northward to the Ronne Ice Shelf . A mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area , usually in the form of a peak . A mountain is generally steeper than a hill . Mountains are formed through tectonic forces or volcanism . These forces can locally raise the surface of the ___MASK52___ . Mountains erode slowly through the action of rivers , weather conditions , and glaciers . A few mountains are isolated summits , but most occur in huge mountain ranges . Ice is water frozen into a ___MASK99___ state . Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air , it can appear transparent or a more or less opaque bluish - white color . The Argentina Range is a ___MASK49___ of rock peaks and bluffs , long , lying east of the northern part of Forrestal Range in the northeastern portion of the Pensacola Mountains of Antarctica . Discovered and photographed on January 13 , 1956 in the course of a US Navy transcontinental nonstop plane flight from McMurdo Sound to Weddell Sea and return . The Solar ___MASK34___ is the gravitationally bound ___MASK34___ comprising the Sun and the objects that orbit it , either directly or indirectly . Of those objects that orbit the Sun directly , the largest eight are the planets , with the remainder being significantly smaller objects , such as dwarf planets and small Solar ___MASK34___ bodies . Of the objects that orbit the Sun indirectly , the moons , two are larger than the smallest planet , Mercury . Foundation Ice Stream is a major ice stream in Antarctica ' s Pensacola Mountains . The ice stream drains northward for along the west side of the Patuxent Range and the Neptune Range to ___MASK56___ the Ronne Ice Shelf westward of Dufek Massif . The ___MASK95___ mapped the stream from surveys and U . S . Navy air photos , 1956  66 . The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names named the stream in recognition of the National Science Foundation , which provided major support to the U . S . Antarctic Research Program during this period . The ___MASK16___ is the northernmost part of the mainland of Antarctica , located at the base of the Southern Hemisphere . At the surface , it is the biggest , most prominent peninsula in Antarctica as it extends from a line between Cape Adams ( Weddell Sea ) and a point on the mainland south of Eklund Islands . Beneath the ice sheet which covers it , the ___MASK16___ consists of a string of bedrock islands ; these are separated by deep channels whose bottoms lie at depths considerably below current sea level . They are joined together by a grounded ice sheet . Tierra del Fuego , the southernmost tip of South America , lies only about away across the Drake Passage . The ___MASK12___ ( abbreviated TAM ) comprise a mountain range of uplifted sedimentary rock in Antarctica which extend , with some interruptions , across the continent from Cape Adare in northern Victoria Land to Coats Land . These mountains divide East Antarctica and West Antarctica . They include a number of separately named mountain groups , which are often again subdivided into smaller ranges . A ___MASK49___ ( also mountain barrier , belt , or system ) is a geographic area containing numerous geologically related mountains . A mountain system or system of mountain ranges , sometimes is used to combine several geological features that are geographically ( regionally ) related . On ___MASK52___ , most significant mountain ranges are the result of plate tectonics , though mountain ranges are formed by a range of processes , are found on many planetary ___MASK41___ objects in the Solar System and are likely a feature of most terrestrial planets . The ___MASK40___ ( US ___MASK68___ , UK ___MASK68___ or and or ) is a polar region , specifically the region around the ___MASK52___ ' s South Pole , opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole . The ___MASK40___ comprises in the strict sense the continent of Antarctica and the island territories located on the ___MASK40___ Plate . In a broader sense the ___MASK40___ region include the ice shelves , waters , and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the ___MASK40___ Convergence , a zone approximately wide varying in latitude seasonally . The region covers some 20 % of the Southern Hemisphere , of which 5 . 5 % ( 14 million km ) is the surface area of the ___MASK40___ continent itself . All of the land and ice shelves south of 60 ° S latitude are administrated under the ___MASK40___ Treaty System . In a biogeographic sense , the ___MASK40___ ecozone is one of eight ecozones of the ___MASK52___ ' s land surface . The ___MASK62___ Range is a major mountain range of the Horlick Mountains in Antarctica , comprising the ___MASK62___ Plateau and numerous glaciers , ridges and peaks bounded by the Reedy Glacier , Shimizu Ice Stream , Horlick Ice Stream and the interior ice plateau . The Patuxent Range or macizo Armada Argentina is a major range of the Pensacola Mountains , comprising the Thomas Hills , Anderson Hills , Mackin Table and various nunataks and ridges bounded by the Foundation Ice Stream , Academy ___MASK31___ and the Patuxent Ice Stream . Discovered and partially photographed on ___MASK43___ 13 , 1956 in the course of a transcontinental nonstop plane flight by personnel of U . S . Navy Operation Deep Freeze I from McMurdo Sound to Weddell ___MASK38___ and return . A terrestrial planet , telluric planet , or rocky planet is a planet that is composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals . Within the Solar ___MASK34___ , the terrestrial planets are the inner planets closest to the Sun , i . e . Mercury , ___MASK9___ , Earth , and Mars . The terms " terrestrial planet " and " telluric planet " are derived from Latin words for Earth (" Terra " and " Tellus "), as these planets are , in terms of composition , " Earth - like ".