Mount Vinson

About Mount Vinson

• It is the highest mountain in Antarctica.
• Mount Vinson rises 4,892 meters (16,050 feet) above sea level.
• It is part of the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains, near the Ronne Ice Shelf.
• There are five other tall mountains in the same area as Mount Vinson—the next five highest summits on the continent of Antarctica—which are collectively referred to as Vinson Massif.
• It is located about 1,200 kilometres from the South Pole, one of the coldest places on Earth.

Key facts about Ellsworth Mountains

• The Ellsworth Mountains are the mountain ranges in Antarctica.
• They are forming a 360 km (224 mi) long and 48 km (30 mi) wide chain of mountains in a north to south configuration.
• Also they are bisected by Minnesota Glacier to form the Sentinel Range to the north and the Heritage Range to the south.
• The former is by far the higher and more spectacular with Mount Vinson (4,892 m) constituting the highest point on the continent. 

Q1) What is Thwaites Glacier?

Thwaites glacier, nicknamed the “Doomsday glacier,” is a fast-moving glacier in West Antarctica. It covers an area roughly the size of Great Britain.The glacier is rapidly losing ice to the ocean in response to climate change and changes in ocean circulation.

Source: Kerala’s Shaikh Hassan Khan now scales Mount Vinson in Antarctica