Wright Inlet () is an ice-filled inlet receding westward between Cape Little and Cape Wheeler along the east coast of

Palmer Land Palmer Land () is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica that lies south of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This application of Palmer Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the Advisory Committee on Antarctic N ...

, Antarctica.

Location

Wright Inlet is on the Lassiter Coast of southern

, opening onto the

Weddell Sea The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre. Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula. The easternmost point is Cape Norvegia at Princess Martha C ...

to the east. The Hutton Mountains are to the southwest, the Playfair Mountains to the west and the Werner Mountains are to the northwest. It is north of

Keller Inlet The Smith Peninsula () is an ice-covered, "dog-legged" peninsula long and wide, extending in an easterly direction between Keller Inlet and Nantucket Inlet from the east coast of Palmer Land, Antarctica. Location The Smith Peninsula is in so ...

and south of

Howkins Inlet Piggott Peninsula () is a broad snow-covered peninsula between New Bedford Inlet and Wright Inlet on Lassiter Coast, Palmer Land, Antarctica. It is bounded to the west by Bryan Glacier and Swann Glacier. Location Piggott Peninsula is on t ...

Piggott Peninsula Piggott Peninsula () is a broad snow-covered peninsula between New Bedford Inlet and Wright Inlet on Lassiter Coast, Palmer Land, Antarctica. It is bounded to the west by Bryan Glacier and Swann Glacier. Location Piggott Peninsula is on t ...

lies on the north side of the inlet. Cape Wheeler to the north and Cape Little to the south define the mouth of the inlet. The inlet is fed by the Waverley Glacier, which enters from the east. Further inland it is fed from the west by Squires Glacier and Swann Glacier.

Discovery and name

Wright Inlet inlet was photographed from the air in 1940 by the

United States Antarctic Service The United States Antarctic Program (or USAP; formerly known as the United States Antarctic Research Program or USARP and the United States Antarctic Service or USAS) is an organization of the United States government which has a presence in the ...

(USAS) and in 1947 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) 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 ...

. It was named by Ronne for

John Kirtland Wright John Kirtland Wright (1891–1969) was an American geographer, notable for his cartography, geosophy, and study of the history of geographical thought. He was the son of classical scholar John Henry Wright and novelist Mary Tappan Wright, and th ...

, Director of the

American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are United States, Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows f ...

, which lent its auspices to Ronne's expedition.

Features

Cape Wheeler

. An abrupt rock scarp rising to . It forms the north side of the entrance to Wright Inlet. The cape was photographed from the air in 1940 by the USAS and in 1947 by the RARE under Ronne. Named by Ronne for

John Neville Wheeler John Neville Wheeler (April 11, 1886 – October 13, 1973) was an American newspaperman, publishing executive, magazine editor, and writer. He was born in Yonkers, New York, graduated Columbia University (which holds a collection of his papers ...

, president of the

North American Newspaper Alliance The North American Newspaper Alliance (NANA) was a large newspaper syndicate in operation between 1922 and 1980. NANA employed writers such as Grantland Rice, Joseph Alsop, Michael Stern, Lothrop Stoddard, Dorothy Thompson, George Schuyler, P ...

and a contributor to the expedition.

Cape Little

. Cape at the east extremity of the peninsula between Wright INlet and

, on the east coast of Palmer Land. Probably seen from the air by members of the USAS who photographed Wright Inlet in December 1940. Photographed from the air during 1947 by the RARE under Ronne, who in conjunction with the FIDS charted it from the ground. Named by Ronne for Delbert M. Little, Assistant Chief for Operations, United States Weather Bureau, who arranged the program for sending weather reports from the RARE.

Waverley Glacier

. Narrow glacier flowing along the south flank of Mount Tricorn and entering Wright Inlet. This glacier was photographed from the air by members of the USAS in December 1940, and by the RARE under Ronne in 1947. Named by Ronne after Waverly, New York, home of the Kasco Mills. Mr. Marc Ivy and Mr. Edwin Knapp, officers of the Kasco Mills, contributed twenty tons of dog food to Ronne's expedition.

Squires Glacier

. A tributary glacier between the Playfair and Hutton Mountains, flowing east-northeast to Swann Glacier. Mapped by USGS from surveys and United States Navy air photos, 1961-67. Named by US-ACAN for Peter L. Squires, glaciologist at Byrd Station, summer 1965-66.

Swann Glacier

. Broad glacier of undetermined length flowing east into Wright Inlet to the north of Mount Tricorn. The glacier was discovered and photographed from the air in December 1940 by members of East Base of the USAS. During 1947 it was photographed from the air by members of the RARE, under Ronne, who in conjunction with the FIDS charted it from the ground. Named by Ronne for W.F.G. Swann, Director of the Barthol Research Foundation of Franklin Inst. at Swarthmore, PA, a contributor to the expedition.

Joughin Glacier

. A glacier east of Watson Peaks, flowing southeast into Wright Inlet. Named by US-ACAN (2008) after Ian Joughin, electrical engineer, who pioneered the use of interferometric synthetic aperture radar to estimate surface motion and topography of ice sheets both in Antarctica and Greenland. He has used remote sensing, field work, and modeling to study ice dynamics since the early 1990s.

References

Sources

* * * {{Include-USGov , agency=United States Geological Survey Inlets of Palmer Land