TRANSANTARCTIC MOUNTAINS

mountain system subdividing the Antarctic continent into an eastern and a western region. The Transantarctic Mountains stretch for more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from Victoria Land to the shores of the Weddell Sea. Rising to 15,000 feet (4,500 m) in the Queen Maud Mountains, they traverse a region that is almost entirely covered by an ice sheet. Other major subdivisions of the system include the Shackleton, Pensacola, Horlick, Queen Alexandra, Britannia, Prince Albert, and Admiralty ranges. Extensive coal deposits, estimated as one of the world's largest reserves, and fossilized remains of primitive freshwater amphibia and reptiles have been found there. Research stations along the base of the mountains have been operated by the United States, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.