Graves Nunataks [SEP] continent
Graves Nunataks
The Graves Nunataks () are a small group of nunataks near the edge of the Antarctic polar plateau, lying east-southeast of Beard Peak, La Gorce Mountains, in the Queen Maud Mountains of Antarctica. It was mapped by the United States Geological Survey from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1960–63, and was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Gerald V. Graves of U.S. Navy Squadron VX-6, a photographer on Operation Deep Freeze 1966 and 1967.
case of petrels and other flying seabirds, the ability to nest on nunataks may have allowed them the ability to stay on the continent during the glacial period and fly down to the edge of the ice for food. However, this was most likely not the case with colony forming species such as the Adélie penguin and the Antarctic elephant seal.
The Antarctic elephant seal was likely a resident of the Antarctic continent (Victoria Land) 7,500–8,000 years ago. However, an advance of ice 1000 years ago drove them away to the