The Kirwan Escarpment () is a prominent northwest-facing

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 lies south of the

Penck Trough Penck Trough () is a broad ice-filled valley trending southwest to northeast, for about between Borg Massif and the northeast part of Kirwan Escarpment, in Queen Maud Land. It was discovered by the Third German Antarctic Expedition (1938–1939) ...

Queen Maud Land Queen Maud Land () is a roughly region of Antarctica Territorial claims in Antarctica, claimed by Norway as a dependent territory. It borders the claimed British Antarctic Territory 20th meridian west, 20° west, specifically the Caird Coast, ...

, Antarctica. The escarpment is featured by moderate-height cliffs and prominent rock spurs interspersed with glaciers and steep ice slopes and trends northeast–southwest for about . At least the northern end of this feature (

Neumayer Cliffs Neumayer Cliffs ( ) is a series of abrupt rock cliffs forming the northeast end of Kirwan Escarpment in Queen Maud Land. Discovered by the German Antarctic Expedition under Alfred Ritscher, 1938–39, and named for German geophysicist Georg von N ...

) was included in the aerial photography of the general area by the

Third German Antarctic Expedition Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

(1938–39), but the maps resulting from that expedition do not portray the escarpment properly. The escarpment was mapped by Norwegian cartographers from surveys and air photos (1958–59) and named for Laurence P. Kirwan, Director of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. Skavlsletta Flat is a small ice-covered area lying between Svartbandufsa Bluff and Tverregga Spur in the Kirwan Escarpment. Norwegian cartographers named it Skavlsletta, meaning "the snowdrift plain". The Duken Flat is located near the southwest end of the escarpment.

References

Landforms of Queen Maud Land Escarpments of Antarctica Princess Martha Coast {{PrincessMarthaCoast-geo-stub

See also

References