Queen Maud Range - Definition

The Queen Maud Mountains (86º00´S 160º00´W) are a major group of mountains, ranges and subordinate features of the Transantarctic Mountains, lying between the Beardmore and Reedy Glaciers and including the area from the head of the Ross Ice Shelf to the polar plateau. Captain Roald Amundsen and his South Pole party ascended Axel Heiberg Glacier near the central part of this group in November 1911, naming these mountains for Queen Maud of Norway.

Elevations bordering the Beardmore Glacier, at the western extremity of these mountains, were observed by the British expeditions led by Ernest Shackleton (1907-09) and Robert Falcon Scott (1910-13), but the mountains as a whole were mapped by several American expeditions led by Richard E. Byrd (1930s and 1940s), and USARP and NZARP expeditions from the 1950s through the 1970s.

The Queen Maud Mountains is divided into the following ranges:

• Bush Mountains
• Commonwealth Range
• Dominion Range
• Herbert Range
• Prince Olav Mountains
• Hughes Range
• Supporters Range

The highest peak is Mount Ellsworth at 2,925 metres (9,596 ft).