Mount Flora

Mount Flora (left of centre), Mount Taylor (right of centre)

Mount Flora is a mountain 1,706 feet high standing half a mile south-east of the head of Hope Bay, at the north-east end of Graham Land in the British Antarctic Territory.

• Location map: 63°25’3"S, 57°1’38"W

The hill contains a well-defined corrie which faces north-east.

Mount Flora was discovered by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition under Otto Nordenskiöld, 1901–04, and named by Johan Gunnar Andersson, second-in-command of the expedition. It was Andersson who discovered plant fossils of the Jurassic period there, which inspired the name.

Antarctic Specially Protected Area

A 74-acre site on the northern slopes of the mountain, encompassing the fossiliferous strata, has been designated an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA No.148). It is a scientifically important site for geological, paleobotanical and paleoclimatological studies. It lies about two miles south-east of Argentina’s Esperanza Base and is easily accessible on foot from there and from Hope Bay.

References

• Gazetteer and Map of The British Antarctic Territory: Mount Flora