Endeavour Massif

Endeavour Massif (76°33′S 162°2′E / 76.550°S 162.033°E / -76.550; 162.033Coordinates: 76°33′S 162°2′E / 76.550°S 162.033°E / -76.550; 162.033) is a huge, flat-topped massif on the Scott Coast of Victoria Land. The massif extends south from Pa Tio Tio Gap to Fry Glacier and forms the southern block of the Kirkwood Range (Robertson Massif forms the northern block). Shoulder Mountain, Mount Belgrave and Mount Creak rise from the southern part of the massif. Steep coastal cliffs and projecting ridges mark the eastern margin, but there is a gentle slope west from the massif's broad, plateau-like snow summit.

This feature was originally named "Mount Endeavour" by the New Zealand Northern Survey Party of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition in October 1957, but on subsequent New Zealand and U.S. maps the name is identified as an 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) summit 3.5 miles (5.6 km) northwest of Mount Creak. Following additional mapping by the United States Geological Survey in 1999 and consultation between the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names and the New Zealand Geographic Board, the name of the southern block of the Kirkwood Range was amended to "Endeavour Massif" to provide terminology better suited to the complex nature of the feature. For the sake of historical continuity the name Mount Endeavour has been retained for the summit northwest of Mount Creak. Both features are named after HMNZS Endeavour (formerly John Biscoe), supply ship to the 1957 New Zealand Northern Survey Party.^[1]

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "Endeavour Massif" (content from the Geographic Names Information System).