Ford Massif
Mountain in Antarctica
title: "Ford Massif" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mountains-of-ellsworth-land"] description: "Mountain in Antarctica" topic_path: "general/mountains-of-ellsworth-land" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Massif" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Mountain in Antarctica ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox mountain"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| range | |
| country | Antarctica |
| country_type | Continent |
| subdivision2_type | Region |
| subdivision2 | Ellsworth Land |
| map | Antarctica |
| coordinates | |
| :: |
| name= | photo= | photo_caption= | highest= | elevation_m= | range= | country= Antarctica | country_type=Continent | subdivision2_type=Region | subdivision2= Ellsworth Land | borders_on= | map=Antarctica | map_caption= | length_km= | area_km2= | coordinates= | coordinates_ref= Ford Massif () is a broad, snow-topped massif 15 nmi long and 5 nmi wide, forming the major topographic landmark of the northern Thiel Mountains in Antarctica. The massif rises to 2,810 m, is essentially flat, and terminates in steep rock cliffs in all but the southern side.
Discovery and naming
The Ford Massif was named by the United States Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) for geologist Arthur B. Ford of the United States Geological Survey (USGS). He was co-leader of the 1960–61 USGS Thiel Mountains survey party and leader of the 1961–62 geologic party to these mountains. Ford led geological parties working in the Pensacola Mountains in several austral seasons, 1962–63 to 1978–79.
Location
The Ford Massif is the northern past of the Thiel Mountains, separated from the Bermel Escarpment by the Counts Icefall. The Moulton Escarpment lies to the west. Gray Spur is in the southeast of the massif, separated by the Aaron Glacier from Janulis Spur to its north. North of Janulis spur is Green Valley below Anderson Summit. Hamilton Cliff defines the northeast face of the massif, below Hadley peak to its west. Features to the west of Hadley Peak include Compton Valley, Reed Ridge, Streitenberger Cliff and the Johnson Nunataks. The Anderson Escarpment defines the southeastern face of the massif.
Features
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Thiel_Mountains_USGS.jpg" caption="Thiel Mountains, Ford Massif to the northwest of the map"] ::
Features of the massif, anti-clockwise from the south, are:
Counts Icefall
Gray Spur
Aaron Glacier
Janulis Spur
Green Valley
Anderson Summit
Hamilton Cliff
Hadley Peak
Walker Spur
Compton Valley
Reed Ridge
Streitenberger Cliff
Johnson Nunataks
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Bestefar_på_jakt.jpg" caption="(Photo by Knut Andersen)}}"] ::
Anderson Escarpment
References
Sources
- {{citation|url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/fedgov/70039167/report.pdf |accessdate=2023-12-03 |edition=2 |editor-last=Alberts |title=Geographic Names of the Antarctic |editor-first=Fred G. |publisher=United States Board on Geographic Names |year=1995}}
- {{citation |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thiel_Mountains_USGS.jpg |accessdate=2024-01-17 |title=Thiel Mountains |publisher=USGS: United States Geological Survey |ref= }}
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::