Drygalski Mountains

P1

The main massif of the Drygalskiberge seen from the northeast

The Drygalskiberge ( norweg. Drygalskifjella ) in Dronning Maud Land are about 500 km ², partially ice-free mountains, which is by Erich von Drygalski, the head of the first official German Antarctic Expedition, named.

The mountain was discovered by the German Antarctic Expedition 1938/39, under the direction of Alfred Ritscher and documented with the aid of aerial photographs. While the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition 1956-1960, the mountains were again recorded photogrammetrically as the German aerial photographs during the Second World War had been lost. The first geological research took place within the framework of the 4th Soviet Antarctic Expedition 1958-1960. The systematic geological mapping and exploration was continued by the GeoMaud 1995-1996 expedition.

Geography

The mountain consists of two geomorphological different areas. The northern part forms an undulating, glaciated promontory that rises gently from 1200 to 1500 m. Several scattered Nunatakgruppen each project just a few meters out from the ice. The southern part is a part of more than 1000 m high protruding from the ice massif, which has about the layout of items 1 and bears the name Fenriskjeften ( Jaws of Fenris Wolf ). The highest peaks are the Matterhorn (Norwegian Ulvetanna 2931 m), the Kintanna ( 2724 m) and the Anna Holt ( 2650 m). To the west and east of the mountain range is limited by wide glacier; the Vinjebreen in the west separates the Drygalskiberge of the Filchnerbergen, in the east of Sigynbreen forms the border with Holtedahlfjella. Both glaciers unite north of the mountains and flow out to the Lazarev Ice Shelf.

Geology

The northern part of the mountain is composed of highly metamorphosed, multiply folded gneisses and marbles, their parent rocks have a mesoproterozoisches age. Finally, the rocks were deformed mya in the collision of West and East Gondwana before 540, thereby greatly thickened the crust. The deeper part of the crust on partially melted, with huge alkaline granitic plutons formed which solidified 500 million years ago and are now open in the southern part of the massif.

Swell

• Norsk Polarinstitutt (ed.): Blad K5 Filchnerfjella North ( topographic map 1:250,000 ). Oslo 1966.
• Hans -Jürgen Paech (Eds. ): International GeoMaud Expedition of the BGR to Central Dronning Maud Land in 1995/96 - Volume I: Geological Results. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 978-3-510-95923-5, p 499
• Norbert W. Roland: Pan - African granitoid in central Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica: petrography, geochemistry, and plate tectonic setting. In: Royal Society of New Zealand Bulletin. 35, 2002, pp. 85-91.