Kukri Hills facts for kids

Kukri Hills

Location in Antarctica

Kukri Hills (77°44′S 162°42′E / 77.733°S 162.700°E / -77.733; 162.700) is a prominent east-west trending range, about 25 nautical miles (46 km) long and over 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) high, forming the divide between Ferrar Glacier on the south and Taylor Glacier and Taylor Valley on the north, in Victoria Land, Antarctica.

The hills were discovered by the Discovery Expedition (1901–04) and probably so named because its shape resembles that of the Kukri, a Gurkha knife.

List of mountains

• Mount Barnes (77°38′S 163°35′E / 77.633°S 163.583°E / -77.633; 163.583) is a peak, 985 metres (3,232 ft), surmounting the west-central side of New Harbour and marking the east end of the Kukri Hills. Discovered by the Discovery expedition, 1901–04, under Scott, and named New Harbour Heights. It was renamed Mount Barnes after a Canadian ice physicist by Scott's second expedition, the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910–13.
• Mount Brearley (77°48′S 161°45′E / 77.800°S 161.750°E / -77.800; 161.750) is a sharp peak, 2,010 metres (6,590 ft), which is the westernmost summit of the Kukri Hills. Named by the Western Journey Party, led by Thomas Griffith Taylor, of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910–13.
• Rahi Peak (77°44′S 162°49′E / 77.733°S 162.817°E / -77.733; 162.817) is a prominent mountain rising to 1,830 m (6,000 ft) between the head of Moa Glacier and Goldman Glacier. The word "rahi" is Māori in origin, meaning "big". The name was applied by the New Zealand Geographic Board (NZGB) in 1998.
• Sentinel Peak (77°47′S 162°23′E / 77.783°S 162.383°E / -77.783; 162.383) is a conspicuous, pointed peak over 2,000 metres (6,600 ft), standing at the north side of Ferrar Glacier and forming the highest point in the south-central part of the Kukri Hills. Discovered and named by the Discovery expedition 1901–04 under Scott.

Other features

• Young Hill (77°38′S 163°26′E / 77.633°S 163.433°E / -77.633; 163.433) is an ice-free hill about 1,000 m (3,300 ft) high, 1 mi (1.6 km) northeast of Hallam Peak. It was named by the New Zealand Geographic Board (NZGB) in 1998 for New Zealand ornithologist Euan C. Young, whose Antarctic research spanned 30 years, beginning in the 1959-60 field season.

• Eyeglass Cirque is a cirque 2 miles (3 km) east of South America Glacier on the southern cliffs of the Kukri Hills, Victoria Land. The name is one of a group in the area associated with surveying applied in 1993 by the New Zealand Geographic Board; "eyeglass" refers to the eyepiece of a surveying telescope.