Vestfold Hills

The Vestfold Hills are largely snow- and ice-free and are thus classified as an Antarctic oasis. They contain a great variety of lake systems with over 300 lakes and ponds{{cite journal |last1=Swadling |first1=K. M. |first2=Herbert J. G. |last2=Dartnall |first3=John A. E. |last3=Gibson |first4=Émilie |last4=Saulnier-Talbot |first5=Warwick F. |last5=Vincent |display-authors=1 |title=Fossil Rotifers and the Early Colonization of an Antarctic Lake |journal=Quaternary Research |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=380–384 |year=2001 |doi=10.1006/qres.2001.2222 |s2cid=129513915 }} including what is possibly the largest concentration of meromictic (stratified) lakes in the world.{{cite journal |last=Gibson |first=John A. E. |title=The meromictic lakes and stratified marine basins of the Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica |journal=Antarctic Science |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=175–92 |year=1999 |doi=10.1017/S0954102099000243 |s2cid=129631579 }} This region contains 37 permanently stratified water bodies,{{cite journal |last=Cavicchioli |first=Ricardo |title=Cold-adapted archaea |journal=Nature Reviews Microbiology |volume=4 |pages=319–43 |year=2006 |issue=5 |doi=10.1038/nrmicro1390 |pmid=16715049 |s2cid=35226669 }} including six marine basins and seven seasonally isolated marine basins (SIMBs). These stratified basins also have great variety. They range in salinity from 4 g L⁻¹ to 235 g L⁻¹, in temperature from {{convert|-14|to|24|C|F|sigfig=2}}, in depth from {{convert|5|to|110|m|ft}}, in area from {{convert|3.6|to|146|ha|acre}} and surface level from {{convert|30|m|ft|sigfig=2}} below to {{convert|29|m|ft|sigfig=2}} above sea level. The region contains a large lake, Lake Burton, as well as the smaller Krok Lake and Camp Lake.

The Vestfold Hills were discovered, and a landing was made in the northern portion, on February 20, 1935, by Captain Klarius Mikkelsen together with his wife and seven crew members (including the ship's dentist, Lief Sørsdal) of the Norwegian whaling ship "Thorshavn" sent out by Lars Christensen. Caroline Mikkelsen, thereby became the first woman to set foot on the Antarctic continent.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}}

The Vestfold Hills are named after Vestfold, a county in Norway where Sandefjord, headquarters of the whaling industry, was located. This hill area and its off-lying islands were mapped from air photos taken by the Lars Christensen Expedition (1936–37). Further brief landings were made by Lincoln Ellsworth and several claims were made by Hubert Wilkins in 1939. The area was photographed from the air by USN Operation Highjump (1946–47). Landings were made and exploration carried out in 1954 and 1955 by ANARE (Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions) led by Phillip Law. Davis Station was established by ANARE in January 1957.[https://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/history/stations/davis/ Davis Station: A brief history] Australian Antarctic Division. Retrieved 23 January 2023.

Image:Vestfold Hills - PJS - Next to Lake Stinear.jpg, in the snow-covered Vestfold Hills, Antarctica.]]

• Beau Riffenburgh, [https://books.google.com/books?id=fRJtB2MNdJMC&dq=%22Vestfold+Hills%22&pg=PA680 Encyclopedia of the Antarctic, Volume 1], P 680
• Johanna Laybourn-Parry, Jemma L. Wadham, [https://books.google.com/books?id=kiatBAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Vestfold+Hills%22&pg=PA93 Antarctic Lakes], PP 92 - 93
• DAMIAN B. GORE, I. SNAPE and M.R. LEISHMAN, [https://research-management.mq.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/62038668/Publisher+version+%28open+access%29.pdf Glacial sediment provenance, dispersal and deposition, Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica], Antarctic Science 15 (2): 259–269 (2003), DOI: 10.1017/S0954102003001263
• BROLSMA, HENK, [https://researchdata.edu.au/survey-report-vestfold-summer-season/701863 Survey Report Vestfold Hills, Australian Antarctic Territory 1984-85, 1985-86 summer season], Australian Antarctic Data Centre
• P.H.G.M.Dirks, J.D.Hoek, C.J.L.Wilson, J.Sims, [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0301926894901090 The Proterozoic deformation of the Vestfold Hills Block, East Antarctica: implications for the tectonic development of adjacent granulite belts], https://doi.org/10.1016/0301-9268(94)90109-0
• Kirkwood, J.M., Burton, H.R., [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00397776 Macrobenthic species assemblages in Ellis Fjord, Vestfold Hills, Antarctica], Mar. Biol. 97, 445–457 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00397776
• Gibson, J. (1999), [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antarctic-science/article/role-of-ice-in-determining-mixing-intensity-in-ellis-fjord-vestfold-hills-east-antarctica/CE69115D515D9501E873712A174D0492 The role of ice in determining mixing intensity in Ellis Fjord, Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica], Antarctic Science, 11(4), 419-426. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095410209900053X
• Australian Antarctic Division, [https://researchdata.edu.au/locations-samples-organic-hills-antarctica/1434770 Locations of samples from Organic Lake, Deep Lake and Ellis Fjord in the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica], Dataset

• [https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=gnispq:5:0::NO::P5_ANTAR_ID:15996 Vestfold Hills] on USGS website
• [https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/display_name.cfm?gaz_id=718 Vestfold Hills] on AADC website
• [https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/scar/search_names_action.cfm?search_text=15439&feature_type_code=0&country_id=0&relic_options=include_relics&north=-45.0&south=-90.0&west=-180.0&east=180.0&search_near=&radius=0.5&gazetteers=SCAR Vestfold Hills] on SCAR website
• [http://www.antarctica.gov.au/living-and-working/stations/davis/this-week-at-davis/2015/this-week-at-davis-3-april-2015/4 Visiting Vestfold Hills]
• [https://vimeo.com/179957903 Vimeo video of Vestfold Hills]

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Category:Hills of Princess Elizabeth Land

Category:Oases of Antarctica

Category:Ingrid Christensen Coast