Achæan Range

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The Achaean Range is a mountain range rising to 4,495 feet in the central part of Anvers Island in the Palmer Archipelago of the British Antarctic Territory.

The range is bounded on the east by Iliad Glacier and by the Trojan Range and on the west by Marr Ice Piedmont. It extends north-west from Mount Agamemnon for six miles, curving north-east for a further twelve miles to Mount Nestor.

The range was surveyed by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in 1955 and named by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee for the Achaeans, the Greeks of the Trojan War in Homer's Iliad. The neighbouring Trojan Range is so named as part of the scheme, and the individual mountains of each range are named from heroes of the Achaean and Trojan armies respectively. The Iliad Glacier between them takes the theme up also.

The Achaean Mountains

The Achaean mountains are all high and snow-clad. The three chief peaks are:

  • Mount Achilles (64°28’60"S, 63°34’60"W) is a steep-sided mountain of 4,200 feet, which rises four miles south-west of Mount Nestor. It was surveyed by the FIDS in 1955.
  • Mount Agamemnon (64°37’60"S, 63°31’0"W) is a mountain of 8,448 feet, marking the south limit of the Achaean Range. It is part of the Mount Français massif but has a separate summit a mile and a half west of the main peak of Mount Français. It was surveyed by the FIDS in 1944, and again in 1955.
  • Mount Nestor (64°25’0"S, 63°28’0"W) is a mountain of 4,101 feet, the northernmost of the Achaean Range. Its western side rises steeply from Marr Ice Piedmont, while its eastern side is a jumble of crevasses and jagged rock pinnacles. It was surveyed by the FIDS in 1955.

Location

References

  • Gazetteer and Map of The British Antarctic Territory: Achæan Range