Svarthamaren Mountain

File:Thalassoica.jpg

The mountain holds the largest known breeding colony of Antarctic petrels

Svarthamaren Mountain is a prominent ice-free mountain or large nunatak on the east side of the mouth of Vestreskorve Glacier in the Muhlig-Hofmann Mountains of Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. It was mapped from surveys and aerial photographs by the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition (1956–60) and named Svarthamaren ("black hammer").

Birds

The nunatak supports the largest known seabird colony in Antarctica. Over 250,000 pairs of Antarctic petrels nest there annually, with about 500,000 non-breeding birds also present during the breeding season. Other birds breeding at the site include snow petrels (up to 1000 pairs) and south polar skuas (about 80 pairs). The site is protected under the Antarctic Treaty System as Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) No.142.

References

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