Mount Wasilewski in Antarctica

January 07, 2012

Mt. Wasilewski in Antarctica final

Photographer: John Fegyveresi
Summary Authors: John Fegyveresi; Jim Foster

The photo above showing remote mountain peaks protruding through the Antarctic ice sheet captures the utter isolation of the frozen continent. The prominent peak, in the mid-ground, is Mount Wasilewski (5,299 ft or 1,615 m), standing silent among the vast, wide open white. I came across this poignant scene while deploying and servicing GPS and seismic stations near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula, not far from Union Glacier. The ice sheet in the vicinity of Mt. Wasilewski is approximately 4,000 ft (1,219 m) thick. Mt. Wasilewski is named for Dr. Peter J. Wasilewski, an astrophysicist at NASA and a renowned meteorite hunter. Photo taken from the ridgeline of Mount Suggs in November 2011.

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