Thiel Mountains

The Thiel Mountains (85º15´S 091º00´W) in Antarctica is an isolated, mainly snow-capped mountain range, 72 km (45 mi) long, located roughly between the Horlick Mountains and the Pensacola Mountains and extending from Moulton Escarpment on the west to Nolan Pillar on the east. Major components include Ford Massif (2,810 m), Bermel Escarpment and a group of eastern peaks near Nolan Pillar. Observed and first positioned by the USARP Horlick Mountains Traverse Party, 1958-59. Surveyed by the USGS Thiel Mountains parties of 1960-61 and 1961-62.

Named by US-ACAN after Edward C. Thiel, traverse seismologist at Ellsworth Station and the Pensacola Mountains in 1957. In December 1959, he made airlifted geophysical observations along the 88th meridian West, including work near these mountains. Thiel perished with four others on November 9 1961 in the crash of a P2V Neptune aircraft soon after take-off from Wilkes Station .