The Boyd Escarpment () is a rock and snow

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

which extends northeast for from Wujek Ridge, in the

Dufek Massif The Dufek Massif () is a rugged, largely snow-covered massif long, standing west of the Forrestal Range in the northern part of the Pensacola Mountains, Antarctica. Discovery and name The Dufek Massif was discovered and photographed on Januar ...

Pensacola Mountains The Pensacola Mountains () are a large group of mountain ranges and peaks that extend in a northeast–southwest direction in the Transantarctic Mountains System, Queen Elizabeth Land region of Antarctica. They comprise the Argentina Range, Forre ...

, Antarctica. It includes Bennett Spur, Cox Nunatak and Rankine Rock.

Name

The Boyd Escarpment was named in 1979 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) after Walter W. Boyd, Jr., a U.S.

International Geophysical Year The International Geophysical Year (IGY; ), also referred to as the third International Polar Year, was an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War w ...

glaciologist who wintered at Little America, 1957; geologist,

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), for three summers in the Pensacola Mountains, 1962–66.

Location

The Boyd Escarpment is the northern part of the Dufek Massif, facing the

Ford Ice Piedmont Sallee Snowfield () is a large snowfield between the Dufek Massif and northern Forrestal Range in the Pensacola Mountains, Antarctica. Mapping and name The Sallee Snowfield was mapped by United States Geological Survey (USGS) from surveys and Uni ...

to the north, with the Sallee Snowfield to its south. It is east of

Davis Valley Davis Valley () is an ice-free valley just east of Floridas Ridge in north-east Dufek Massif, in the Pensacola Mountains, Antarctica. Mapping and name Davis Valley was mapped by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) from surveys and Unite ...

. Features include, from west to east, Bennett Spur, Cox Nunatak and Rankine Rock.

Features

Bennett Spur

. A rock spur between Wujek Ridge and Cox Nunatak. Named by US-ACAN in 1979 after David W. Bennett who, with Robin Worcester, comprised the first of the annual USGS satellite surveying teams at the South Pole Station, winter party 1973.

Cox Nunatak

. A

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 ...

, high, standing south of Rankine Rock. Mapped by USGS from surveys and

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

air photos, 1956-66. Named by US-ACAN for Walter M. Cox, photographer,

Ellsworth Station Ellsworth Scientific Station (, or simply ''Estación Ellsworth'' or ''Base Ellsworth'') was a permanent, all year-round originally American, then Argentine Antarctic scientific research station named after American polar explorer Lincoln Ellswo ...

winter party, 1957.

Rankine Rock

. A rock lying north of Cox Nunatak at the north extremity of Dufek Massif. Mapped by USGS from surveys and United States Navy air photos, 1956-66. Named by US-ACAN for David F. Rankine, Jr., photographer with United States Navy Squadron VX-6 during

Operation Deep Freeze Operation Deep Freeze is the code name for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on. (There was an init ...

1964.

References

Sources

* * *{{Include-USGov , agency=United States Geological Survey Escarpments of Queen Elizabeth Land