earth science

Observation Hill (McMurdo Station)

Observation Hill (McMurdo Station) is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Observation Hill (McMurdo Station) rather than just read about it. In short: Observation Hill is a steep 754-foot (230 m) hill adjacent to McMurdo Station in Antarctica and commonly called "Ob Hill". It is frequently climbed to get good viewing points across the continent.

Key takeaways

Observation Hill (McMurdo Station) belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Observation Hill (McMurdo Station) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Observation Hill (McMurdo Station) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Observation Hill is a steep 754-foot (230 m) hill adjacent to McMurdo Station in Antarctica and commonly called "Ob Hill". It is frequently climbed to get good viewing points across the continent. Regular clear skies give excellent visibility. A memorial at the top of the hill, erected in 1913, is an Antarctica Treaty historical site number HSM-20. Observation Hill is a lava dome and one of many volcanoes comprising the Hut Point Peninsula.

Observation Hill Cross

After their deaths in early 1912, the last members of Robert Falcon Scott's party were found by a search party led by the surgeon Edward L. Atkinson. The relief party took their photographic film, scientific specimens, and other materials. The bodies of Scott and his men were left in their tent, and later parties could not locate the campsite, since that area had been covered in snow. A century of storms and snow have covered the cairn and tent, which are now encased in the Ross Ice Shelf as it slowly inches towards the Ross Sea. In 2001, glaciologist Charles R. Bentley estimated that the tent with the bodies was under about 75 feet (23 m) of ice and about 30 miles (48 km) from the point where they died; he speculated that in about 275 years the bodies would reach the Ross Sea, and perhaps float away inside an iceberg. The search party returned to their base camp in McMurdo Sound to await the relief ship. After it arrived, they worked to build a memorial – a nine-foot wooden cross, inscribed with the names of the fatal party and the final line of the Alfred Tennyson poem "Ulysses", which reads "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." On 22 January 1913, after a difficult two-day sledge journey, the cross was erected on the summit of Observation Hill, overlooking the camp and facing out towards the "Barrier" – the Ross Ice Shelf, on which Scott's party had died. In 1972, the cross was declared as one of the initial Historic Sites and Monuments in Antarctica by the Antarctic Treaty signatories, as HSM-20.

Gallery

See also McMurdo Station Winter Quarters Bay McMurdo Station transportation

References

External links

Photo of cross

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Observation Hill (McMurdo Station)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Observation Hill (McMurdo Station) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Observation Hill (McMurdo Station) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Observation Hill (McMurdo Station) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Observation Hill (McMurdo Station)

In research: Observation Hill (McMurdo Station) appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Observation Hill (McMurdo Station) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Observation Hill (McMurdo Station) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Hills of Ross Island, Historic Sites and Monuments in Antarctica, History of the Ross Dependency, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Observation Hill (McMurdo Station) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Observation Hill (McMurdo Station)” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Observation Hill (McMurdo Station) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Observation Hill (McMurdo Station) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Observation Hill (McMurdo Station) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Observation Hill (McMurdo Station) in simple terms?

Observation Hill is a steep 754-foot (230 m) hill adjacent to McMurdo Station in Antarctica and commonly called "Ob Hill". It is frequently climbed to get good viewing points across the continent.

Why does Observation Hill (McMurdo Station) matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Observation Hill (McMurdo Station)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Observation Hill (McMurdo Station).