The Allen Rocks are a small but distinctive group of rocks 2.2 miles (3.5 km) east-northeast of Slattery Peak

Slattery Peak

Slattery Peak is a somewhat isolated rock peak that rises above the ice mantle southeast of Mount Terror on Ross Island. The peak position is additionally defined as 5.5 nautical miles southwest of The Knoll and 3.8 nautical miles east-northeast of Rohnke Crests...

 in the Kyle Hills

Kyle Hills

Kyle Hills is a prominent group of volcanic cones, hills, ridges, and peaks that occupy the east part of Ross Island between Mount Terror and Cape Crozier. The hills extend east-west for 8 nautical miles , rising from sea level at Cape Crozier to c.2600 m in Mount McIntosh at the west end of the...

, Ross Island

Ross Island

Ross Island is an island formed by four volcanoes in the Ross Sea near the continent of Antarctica, off the coast of Victoria Land in McMurdo Sound.-Geography:...

. The feature includes a central nunatak

Nunatak

A nunatak is an exposed, often rocky element of a ridge, mountain, or peak not covered with ice or snow within an ice field or glacier. The term is typically used in areas where a permanent ice sheet is present...

 that in outline resembles the letter 'a'. A low ridge encloses the nunatak except on the south. It was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names

Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names

The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending names for features in Antarctica...

 in 2000 after Robert J. Allen of the U.S. Antarctic Resource Center, United States Geological Survey

United States Geological Survey

The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...

 (USGS), Reston, Virginia

Reston, Virginia

Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, within the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The population was 58,404, at the 2010 Census and 56,407 at the 2000 census...

, cartographer and expert on aerial photography of Antarctica, who was closely involved in USGS mapping of the continent, 1950–2000.