The Merrick Mountains () are a cluster of mountains, long, standing northeast of the

Behrendt Mountains The Behrendt Mountains () is a group of mountains, long, aligned in the form of a horseshoe with the opening to the southwest, standing southwest of the Merrick Mountains in Ellsworth Land, Antarctica. Location The Behrendt Mountains are in t ...

Ellsworth Land Ellsworth Land is a portion of the Antarctica, Antarctic continent bounded on the west by Marie Byrd Land, on the north by the Bellingshausen Sea, on the northeast by the base of the Antarctic Peninsula, and on the east by the western margin of t ...

, Antarctica.

Location

The Merrick Mountains are in eastern

, to the south of the

English Coast The English Coast is a portion of the coast of Antarctica between the northern tip of Rydberg Peninsula and the Buttress Nunataks, on the west side of Palmer Land. To the west is Bryan Coast, and northward runs Rymill Coast east of Alexander ...

George VI Sound George VI Sound or Canal Jorge VI or Canal Presidente Sarmiento or Canal Seaver or King George VI Sound or King George the Sixth Sound is a major bay/ fault depression, 300 miles (483 km) long and mainly covered by a permanent ice shelf. I ...

They are northeast of the

and west of the

Sweeney Mountains The Sweeney Mountains () are a group of mountains of moderate height and about extent, located north of the Hauberg Mountains in eastern Ellsworth Land, Antarctica. Location The Sweeney Mountains are in the southeast of Ellsworth Land. They ...

. Features include, from south to north, Eaton Nunatak, Mount Boyer, Mount Matheson, Mount Becker and Mount Berger. Nearby features include Henry Nunataks,

Cheeks Nunatak The Grossman Nunataks () are a group of about a dozen nunataks in Ellsworth Land, Antarctica, rising in elevation and running northwest–southeast for between the Lyon Nunataks and the Sky-Hi Nunataks. The group includes features from the Smi ...

Lyon Nunataks The Lyon Nunataks () are a group of nunataks lying west of the Grossman Nunataks and northwest of the Behrendt Mountains, in Ellsworth Land, Antarctica. They include Grossenbacher Nunatak, Holtet Nunatak, Christoph Nunatak and Isakson Nunatak. ...

Sky-Hi Nunataks The Sky-Hi Nunataks are a nunatak group long, located east of Grossman Nunataks and northeast of Merrick Mountains in Ellsworth Land, extending from Doppler Nunatak in the west to Arnoldy Nunatak in the east and including Mount Mende, Mount L ...

and Mount Wasilewski.

Discovery and name

The Merrick Mountains were discovered and photographed from the air by the

Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition The Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition (RARE) was an expedition from 1947–1948 which researched the area surrounding the head of the Weddell Sea in Antarctica. Background Finn Ronne led the RARE which was the final privately sponsored exp ...

(RARE), 1947–48, under

Finn Ronne Finn Ronne (December 20, 1899 – January 12, 1980) was a Norwegian-born U.S. citizen and Antarctic explorer. Background Finn Ronne was born in Horten, in Vestfold county, Norway. His father, Martin Rønne (1861–1932), was a polar explorer ...

. They were named by the United States

Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (ACAN or US-ACAN) is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending commemorative names for features in Antarctica. History The committee was established ...

(US-ACAN) for Conrad G. Merrick,

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

(USGS) topographic engineer with the

Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martin in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctica. ...

Traverse Party, 1961–62, who participated in the survey of these mountains.

Features

Eaton Nunatak

. A prominent

nunatak A nunatak (from Inuit language, Inuit ) is the summit or ridge of a mountain that protrudes from an ice field or glacier that otherwise covers most of the mountain or ridge. They often form natural pyramidal peaks. Isolated nunataks are also cal ...

marking the southeast extremity of the Merrick Mountains. Mapped by USGS from surveys and United States Navy air photos, 1961-67. Named by US-ACAN for John W. Eaton, aurora scientist at Eights Station in 1963.

Mount Boyer

. A mountain southwest of Mount Becker. Mapped by USGS from surveys and United States Navy air photos, 1961-67. Named by US-ACAN for Francis C. Boyer, hospital corpsman, United States Navy, chief petty officer in charge of

Eights Station Eights Station was an Antarctic permanent exploration base from January 1963 to November 1965, located on Ellsworth Land Ellsworth Land is a portion of the Antarctica, Antarctic continent bounded on the west by Marie Byrd Land, on the north by ...

in 1964.

Mount Matheson

. A mountain northwest of Mount Boyer. Mapped by USGS from surveys and United States Navy air photos, 1961-67. Named by US-AC AN for Lome D. Matheson, ionospheric physics researcher at Eights Station in 1963.

Mount Becker

. A prominent mountain northeast of Mount Boyer. These mountains were discovered from the air and photographed by the RARE, 1947-48, under Finn Ronne. The mountain was named by Ronne for Ralph A. Becker, legal counsel who assisted in the formation of RARE and in obtaining financial support for the expedition.

Mount Berger

. A mountain with a steep northern rock face, standing northeast of Mount Becker. Mapped by USGS from surveys and United States Navy air photos, 1961-67. Named by US-ACAN for Lieutenant Commander Raymond E. Berger, United States Navy, aircraft pilot who flew the University of Wisconsin Traverse Party to this area and flew support missions in its behalf in the 1965-66 season.

Nearby features

Henry Nunataks

. A cluster of nunataks located west of the Merrick Mountains. Mapped by USGS from surveys and United States Navy air photos, 1961-67. Named by US-ACAN for K.C. Henry, engineman with the Eights Station winter party in 1963.

Mount Wasilewski

. Prominent isolated mountain high located east-southeast of Merrick Mountains. First seen and photographed from the air by RARE, 1947–48. Named by US-ACAN for Peter J. Wasilewski, member of the University of Wisconsin parties which explored this area in the 1961-62 and 1965-66 seasons.

References

Sources

* * {{Include-USGov , agency=United States Geological Survey Mountain ranges of Ellsworth Land