Atka Iceport, also known as Atka Bay, is an iceport

Iceport

An iceport is a a more-or-less permanent indentation in the front of an ice shelf, that can serve as a natural ice harbor. Though useful, they are not always reliable, as calving of surrounding ice shelves can render an iceport temporarily unstable and unusable.-Historical and present use of...

 about 10 miles (16.1 km) long and wide, marking a more-or-less permanent indentation in the front of the Ekstrom Ice Shelf

Ekstrom Ice Shelf

Ekström Ice Shelf is the ice shelf lying between Sorasen Ridge and Halvfarryggen Ridge, on Princess Martha Coast of Queen Maud Land. It occupies an area of 8,700 km²...

 on the coast of Queen Maud Land

Queen Maud Land

Queen Maud Land is a c. 2.7 million-square-kilometre region of Antarctica claimed as a dependent territory by Norway. The territory lies between 20° west and 45° east, between the British Antarctic Territory to the west and the Australian Antarctic Territory to the east. The latitudinal...

.

Discovery and naming

Atka Iceport was mapped in detail by Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 cartographers from surveys and air photographs taken by the Norwegian-British-Swedish Antarctic Expedition

Norwegian-British-Swedish Antarctic Expedition

Norwegian–British–Swedish Antarctic Expedition the first Antarctica expedition involving an international team of scientists...

 (1949-1952), led by John Schjelderup Giæver. It was named by personnel of the USS Atka

USCGC Southwind (WAGB-280)

USCGC Southwind was a Wind-class icebreaker that served in the United States Coast Guard as USCGC Southwind , the Soviet Navy as the Admiral Makarov, the United States Navy as USS Atka and again in the U.S...

, under U.S. Navy Commander Glen Jacobsen, which moored here in February 1955 while investigating possible base sites for International Geophysical Year

International Geophysical Year

The International Geophysical Year was an international scientific project that lasted from July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War when scientific interchange between East and West was seriously interrupted...

 operations.

See also

• Ice pier
  Ice pier
  An ice pier is a man-made structure used to assist the unloading of ships in Antarctica. It is constructed by pumping seawater into a contained area and allowing the water to freeze. By repeating this procedure several times, additional layers are built up. The final structure is many metres in...
  
  
• Erskine Iceport
  Erskine Iceport
  Erskine Iceport , also known as Erskine Bay or General Erskine Bay, is an iceport about 3 nautical miles wide and 6 nautical miles long, which marks a more-or-less permanent indentation extending southeast into the seaward front of the extensive ice shelf fringing Queen Maud Land.-Discovery and...
  
  
• Godel Iceport
  Godel Iceport
  Godel Iceport also known as Godel Bay, is an iceport about 5 nautical miles wide, which marks a more-or-less permanent indentation in the seaward front of the extensive ice shelf fringing the coast of Queen Maud Land.-Discovery and naming:...
  
  
• Norsel Iceport
  Norsel Iceport
  Norsel Iceport , also known as Norselbukta or Bukhta Nursel, is a small iceport in the front of the Quar Ice Shelf, along the coast of Queen Maud Land.-Discovery and naming:...
  
  
• Bay of Whales
  Bay of Whales
  The Bay of Whales is a natural ice harbor, or iceport, indenting the front of Ross Ice Shelf just north of Roosevelt Island. It is the southernmost point of open ocean not only of the Ross Sea, but worldwide...