Marie Byrd Land
Encyclopedia
Marie Byrd Land is the portion of West Antarctica
lying east of the Ross Ice Shelf
and the Ross Sea
and south of the Pacific Ocean
, extending eastward approximately to a line between the head of the Ross Ice Shelf and Eights Coast
. It stretches between 158°W
and 103°24'W. The inclusion of the area between the Rockefeller Plateau
and Eights Coast is based upon the leading role of Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd in the exploration of this area. The name was originally applied by Admiral Byrd in 1929, in honor of his wife, to the northwestern part of the area, the part that was explored in that year.
Because of its remoteness, even by Antarctic standards, most of Marie Byrd Land (the portion east of 150°W
) has not been claimed by any sovereign nation. It is by far the largest single unclaimed territory
on Earth
, with an area of 1,610,000 km² (including Eights Coast, immediately east of Marie Byrd Land). In 1939, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
instructed members of the United States Antarctic Service Expedition
to take steps to claim some of Antarctica as US territory. Although this appears to have been done by members of this and subsequent expeditions, these do not appear to have been formalized prior to 1959, when the Antarctic Treaty System
was set up. Some publications in the US have shown this as US territory in the intervening period, and the US Defense Department has stated that the US has a solid basis for a claim in Antarctica resulting from its activities prior to 1959. The portion west of 150°W is part of Ross Dependency
of New Zealand
.
Five coastal areas are distinguished, which are listed from west to east:
Marie Byrd Seamount is a seamount
named in association with Marie Byrd Land. Name approved 6/88 (ACUF 228).
's ship Discovery in 1902. He named the peninsula adjacent to the Ross Sea King Edward VII Land and the scattered outcrops that were within sight, the Alexandra Mountains. In 1911, during Roald Amundsen
's South Pole expedition, Kristian Prestrud
led a sledge party that visited these isolated outcrops (nunataks) in the region bordering the eastern Ross Sea and Ross Ice Shelf. At the same time the first Japanese Antarctic Expedition led by Nobu Shirase landed a shore party on the peninsula.
Aerial overflights in 1929 during Richard E. Byrd's first Antarctic expedition (1928–1930) and originating from Little America near Amundsen's original base camp Framheim
in the Bay of Whales, led to the discovery of the Rockefeller Mountains
and the Edsel Ford Ranges
farther to the east. Byrd named the region after his wife Marie. A geological party led by L. Gould briefly explored parts of the Rockefeller Mountains.
The first deep overland exploration occurred during the second Byrd expedition (1933–1935) when a sledge party led by P. Siple
and F.A. Wade reached as far east as the Fosdick Mountains in 1934. Aerial exploration discovered lands farther east along the Ruppert Coast
.
The Third Byrd Antarctic Expedition, also called the United States Antarctic Service Expedition
, took place from 1939-1941. This expedition established two base camps 1600 miles apart. West Base was near the former Little America base (68° 29' S, 163° 57' W) and East Base was near the Antarctic Peninsula on Stonington Island (68° 12' S, 67° 03' W). Exploration flights out of these two bases led to the discovery of most of the Marie Byrd Land Volcanic Province (e.g. Executive Committee Range
) and much of the coastal region including the Walgreen, Hobbs, and Ruppert Coasts. During the expedition trail parties from West Base visited the northern Ford Ranges
and south slopes of the Fosdick Mountains.
The U.S. Navy (USN) mounted several expeditions to Antarctica in the period 1946 to 1959. These expeditions (Operation Highjump
led by R.E. Byrd, Windmill
, and Deep Freeze
I-IV) included aerial photography using the Trimetrogon system of aerial photographs (TMA; vertical, left, and right oblique images over the same point) over portions of coastal Marie Byrd Land.
The USN began construction of Byrd Station
at 80°S, 120°W with traverses out of Little America V in 1956-57 during Deep Freeze II. These efforts were in advance of the International Geophysical Year
(IGY; from July 1957 to end of 1958) that saw several exploratory overland traverses with tractor trains (Sno-cat
s and modified bulldozer
s). Starting in January 1957 (pre-IGY) Charles R. Bentley led a traverse from Little America V to the new Byrd station along the route blazed by U.S. Army engineers a few months before (the Army-Navy Drive). His team conducted measurements of ice thickness and of the Earth’s magnetic and gravity field. The following summer season (1957–58) he led a second traverse out of Byrd Station that visited volcanoes of the Marie Byrd Land Volcanic Province for the first time. The traverse reached the Sentinel Mountains beyond eastern Marie Byrd Land before returning to Byrd Station. Bentley led a third traverse out of Byrd Station to the Horlick Mountains
in 1958-59. These three traverses led to the discovery of the Bentley Subglacial Trench
or Trough, a deep bedrock chasm between MBL and the Transantarctic Mountains of East Antarctica.
During 1958-1960 TMA flights and a traverse out of Byrd Station visited and mapped the Executive Committee Range
. TMA were flown in western Marie Byrd Land in 1964 and 1965. Following these efforts the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) mounted land surveys to establish a series of reference points and benchmarks throughout much of Marie Byrd Land during 1966-1968.
The USS Glacier explored the parts of the Walgreen Coast
and Eights Coast
in 1960-61. It had parties of geologists and surveyors along that were deployed to outcrops on land. This expedition to the far eastern reaches of Marie Byrd Land determined that Thurston Peninsula as proposed by earlier expeditions was in fact an island (Thurston Island
). In the same season a geological party led by Campbell Craddock explored the Jones Mountains
in the adjacent region.
The U.S. Byrd Coastal Survey during 1966-1969, led by F.A. Wade, conducted geologic mapping of the Alexandra and Rockefeller Mountains and the Ford Ranges and produced a series of 1:250,000 geologic maps of the region. This was a complex expedition involving remote helicopter camps and airborne geophysics.
Several geological expeditions explored Marie Byrd Land during the period 1978-1993. New Zealand geologists surveyed the Ford Ranges and Edward VII Peninsula in two expeditions 1978-79, and 1987-88. Exploration of the Marie Byrd Land Volcanic Province began in earnest by U.S. geologists in 1984-85. The WAVE project (West Antarctic Volcano Exploration) focused on the volcanic province during the period 1989-91. The SPRITE project (South Pacific Rim International Tectonic Expedition) explored regions and surroundings of the Hobbs Coast in 1990-93. Members of both projects were from the U.S., Britain, and New Zealand. During the Austral summers of 1989-1990 and 1990-1991 a geological party from the University of California, Santa Barbara
(UCSB) explored several of the mountain ranges within the northern Ford Ranges of Marie Byrd Land (FORCE expd.; Ford Ranges Crustal Exploration). GANOVEX VII a multinational expedition led by Germany visited Edward VII Peninsula in 1992-93.
Colorado College
geologists led expeditions to the Ford Ranges in 1998-2001, and 2004-2007 (Fosdick Mountains).
base Byrd Station
(NBY; originally at 80°S, 120°W, rebuilt at 80°S, 119°W), beginning in 1957, in the hinterland of Bakutis Coast
. Byrd Station was the only major base in the interior of West Antarctica for many years. In 1968, the first ice core
to fully penetrate the Antarctic Ice Sheet was drilled here. The year-round station was abandoned in 1972, and after operating for years as a temporary summer encampment, Byrd Surface Camp, Byrd Station was reopened by the United States Antarctic Program
(USAP) in 2009-2010 to support operations in northern West Antarctica.
Byrd Station provided a template for the doomed Antarctic base in the horror movie John Carpenter's The Thing.
In 1998-1999, a camp was operated at the Ford Ranges
(FRD) in western Marie Byrd Land, supporting a part of a US Antarctic Program (USAP) airborne survey initiated by UCSB and supported by the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics.
In 2004-05, a large camp, Thwaites (THW) was established by the USAP 150 km north of NBY, in order to support a large airborne geophysical survey of eastern Marie Byrd Land by the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics.
In 2006, a major encampment, WAIS Divide (WSD) was established on the divide between the Ross Sea
Embayment and the Amundsen Sea
Embayment, in easternmost Marie Byrd Land, in order to drill a high resolution ice core
over the following three years.
On Ruppert Coast
of Marie Byrd Land is the Russian station Russkaya
, which was occupied 1980-1990 and is also used as a summer-only station.
West Antarctica
West Antarctica, or Lesser Antarctica, one of the two major regions of Antarctica, is the part of the continent that lies within the Western Hemisphere including the Antarctic Peninsula.-Location and description:...
lying east of the Ross Ice Shelf
Ross Ice Shelf
The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica . It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than 600 km long, and between 15 and 50 metres high above the water surface...
and the Ross Sea
Ross Sea
The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land.-Description:The Ross Sea was discovered by James Ross in 1841. In the west of the Ross Sea is Ross Island with the Mt. Erebus volcano, in the east Roosevelt Island. The southern part is covered...
and south of the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
, extending eastward approximately to a line between the head of the Ross Ice Shelf and Eights Coast
Eights Coast
Eights Coast is that portion of the coast of West Antarctica between Cape Waite and Pfrogner Point. To the west is Walgreen Coast of Marie Byrd Land, and to the east is Bryan Coast. It is part of Ellsworth Land and stretches between 103°24'W and 89°35'W. This coast is bordered by Thurston Island,...
. It stretches between 158°W
158th meridian west
The meridian 158° west of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
and 103°24'W. The inclusion of the area between the Rockefeller Plateau
Rockefeller Plateau
The Rockefeller Plateau in Antarctica is that portion of the interior ice plateau of Marie Byrd Land lying eastward of Shirase Coast and Siple Coast and southward of the Ford Ranges, Flood Range and Executive Committee Range, centering near the coordinates given above. Much of its extensive,...
and Eights Coast is based upon the leading role of Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd in the exploration of this area. The name was originally applied by Admiral Byrd in 1929, in honor of his wife, to the northwestern part of the area, the part that was explored in that year.
Because of its remoteness, even by Antarctic standards, most of Marie Byrd Land (the portion east of 150°W
150th meridian west
The meridian 150° west of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
) has not been claimed by any sovereign nation. It is by far the largest single unclaimed territory
Terra nullius
Terra nullius is a Latin expression deriving from Roman law meaning "land belonging to no one" , which is used in international law to describe territory which has never been subject to the sovereignty of any state, or over which any prior sovereign has expressly or implicitly relinquished...
on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, with an area of 1,610,000 km² (including Eights Coast, immediately east of Marie Byrd Land). In 1939, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
instructed members of the United States Antarctic Service Expedition
United States Antarctic Service Expedition
The United States Antarctic Service Expedition , often referred to as Byrd’s third Antarctic Expedition, was an expedition jointly sponsored by the United States Navy, State Department, Department of the Interior and The Treasury...
to take steps to claim some of Antarctica as US territory. Although this appears to have been done by members of this and subsequent expeditions, these do not appear to have been formalized prior to 1959, when the Antarctic Treaty System
Antarctic Treaty System
The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively called the Antarctic Treaty System or ATS, regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. For the purposes of the treaty system, Antarctica is defined as all of the land...
was set up. Some publications in the US have shown this as US territory in the intervening period, and the US Defense Department has stated that the US has a solid basis for a claim in Antarctica resulting from its activities prior to 1959. The portion west of 150°W is part of Ross Dependency
Ross Dependency
The Ross Dependency is a region of Antarctica defined by a sector originating at the South Pole, passing along longitudes 160° east to 150° west, and terminating at latitude 60° south...
of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Five coastal areas are distinguished, which are listed from west to east:
| No. | Sector | Western Border | Eastern Border |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saunders Coast Saunders Coast Saunders Coast is that portion of the coast of Marie Byrd Land between Cape Colbeck and Brennan Point, or between Shirase Coast in the west and Ruppert Coast in the east. It stretches from 158°00'W to 146°31'W. The portion west of 150°W is part of Ross Dependency, while the remaining area is... |
158°00'W | 146°31'W |
| 2 | Ruppert Coast Ruppert Coast Ruppert Coast is that portion of the coast of Marie Byrd Land between Brennan Point and Cape Burks, or between Saunders Coast in the west and Hobbs Coast in the east. It stretches from 146°31'W to 136°50'W. It was named by R. Admiral Richard Byrd for Col... |
146°31'W | 136°50'W |
| 3 | Hobbs Coast Hobbs Coast Hobbs Coast is that portion of the coast of Marie Byrd Land extending from Cape Burks to a point on the coast opposite eastern Dean Island, at , or between Ruppert Coast in the west and Bakutis Coast in the east. It stretches from 136°50'W to 127°35'. It was discovered by the US Antarctic Service ... |
136°50'W | 127°35'W |
| 4 | Bakutis Coast Bakutis Coast The Bakutis Coast is that part of the coast of Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica, extending from a point opposite eastern Dean Island, at , to Cape Herlacher, or between Hobbs Coast in the west and Walgreen Coast in the east. It stretches between 127°35'W and 114°12'W. The coast in this area is... |
127°35'W | 114°12'W |
| 5 | Walgreen Coast Walgreen Coast The Walgreen Coast is a portion of the coast of Antarctica between Cape Herlacher and Cape Waite, or between Bakutis Coast in the west, and Eights Coast. It is the easternmost part of Marie Byrd Land. It stretches from 114°12'W to 103°24'W. Eights Coast to the east is already part of Ellsworth Land... |
114°12'W | 103°24'W |
| Marie Byrd Land | 158°00'W | 103°24'W |
Marie Byrd Seamount is a seamount
Seamount
A seamount is a mountain rising from the ocean seafloor that does not reach to the water's surface , and thus is not an island. These are typically formed from extinct volcanoes, that rise abruptly and are usually found rising from a seafloor of depth. They are defined by oceanographers as...
named in association with Marie Byrd Land. Name approved 6/88 (ACUF 228).
Exploration
Marie Byrd Land was first explored from the west where it could be accessed from the Ross Sea. The far western coast of Marie Byrd Land was seen from the decks of Robert Falcon ScottRobert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
's ship Discovery in 1902. He named the peninsula adjacent to the Ross Sea King Edward VII Land and the scattered outcrops that were within sight, the Alexandra Mountains. In 1911, during Roald Amundsen
Roald Amundsen
Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He led the first Antarctic expedition to reach the South Pole between 1910 and 1912 and he was the first person to reach both the North and South Poles. He is also known as the first to traverse the Northwest Passage....
's South Pole expedition, Kristian Prestrud
Kristian Prestrud
Kristian Prestrud was a Norwegian Norwegian naval officer and polar explorer who participated in the Amundsen Antarctic Expedition between 1910 and 1912...
led a sledge party that visited these isolated outcrops (nunataks) in the region bordering the eastern Ross Sea and Ross Ice Shelf. At the same time the first Japanese Antarctic Expedition led by Nobu Shirase landed a shore party on the peninsula.
Aerial overflights in 1929 during Richard E. Byrd's first Antarctic expedition (1928–1930) and originating from Little America near Amundsen's original base camp Framheim
Framheim
Framheim was the name of explorer Roald Amundsen's base at the Bay of Whales on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica during his quest for the South Pole...
in the Bay of Whales, led to the discovery of the Rockefeller Mountains
Rockefeller Mountains
The Rockefeller Mountains are a group of low-lying, scattered granite peaks and ridges, almost entirely snow covered, standing 30 miles south-southwest of the Alexandra Mountains on the Edward VII Peninsula of Antarctica....
and the Edsel Ford Ranges
Ford Ranges
The Ford Ranges is a grouping of mountain ranges standing east of Sulzberger Ice Shelf and Block Bay in the northwest part of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica...
farther to the east. Byrd named the region after his wife Marie. A geological party led by L. Gould briefly explored parts of the Rockefeller Mountains.
The first deep overland exploration occurred during the second Byrd expedition (1933–1935) when a sledge party led by P. Siple
Siple
* Siple Island, an island in Wrigley Gulf.* Mount Siple, a volcano in Siple Island.* Paul Siple, an American Antarctic explorer.* Siple Coast, a coast in Ross Ice Shelf.* Siple Station, an Antarctic station, established in 1973....
and F.A. Wade reached as far east as the Fosdick Mountains in 1934. Aerial exploration discovered lands farther east along the Ruppert Coast
Ruppert Coast
Ruppert Coast is that portion of the coast of Marie Byrd Land between Brennan Point and Cape Burks, or between Saunders Coast in the west and Hobbs Coast in the east. It stretches from 146°31'W to 136°50'W. It was named by R. Admiral Richard Byrd for Col...
.
The Third Byrd Antarctic Expedition, also called the United States Antarctic Service Expedition
United States Antarctic Service Expedition
The United States Antarctic Service Expedition , often referred to as Byrd’s third Antarctic Expedition, was an expedition jointly sponsored by the United States Navy, State Department, Department of the Interior and The Treasury...
, took place from 1939-1941. This expedition established two base camps 1600 miles apart. West Base was near the former Little America base (68° 29' S, 163° 57' W) and East Base was near the Antarctic Peninsula on Stonington Island (68° 12' S, 67° 03' W). Exploration flights out of these two bases led to the discovery of most of the Marie Byrd Land Volcanic Province (e.g. Executive Committee Range
Executive Committee Range
The Executive Committee Range is a range consisting of five major mountains, volcanic in origin, which trends north-south for along the 126th meridian west, in Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica....
) and much of the coastal region including the Walgreen, Hobbs, and Ruppert Coasts. During the expedition trail parties from West Base visited the northern Ford Ranges
Ford Ranges
The Ford Ranges is a grouping of mountain ranges standing east of Sulzberger Ice Shelf and Block Bay in the northwest part of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica...
and south slopes of the Fosdick Mountains.
The U.S. Navy (USN) mounted several expeditions to Antarctica in the period 1946 to 1959. These expeditions (Operation Highjump
Operation Highjump
Operation Highjump , officially titled The United States Navy Antarctic Developments Program, 1946-1947, was a United States Navy operation organized by RADM Richard E. Byrd Jr. USN, , Officer in Charge, Task Force 68, and led by RADM Richard H. Cruzen, USN, Commanding Officer, Task Force 68....
led by R.E. Byrd, Windmill
Operation Windmill
Operation Windmill was the United States Navy's Second Antarctica Developments Project, an exploration and training mission to Antarctica in 1947–1948. This operation was a follow up to the First Antarctica Development Project known as Operation Highjump. The expedition was commanded by Commander...
, and Deep Freeze
Operation Deep Freeze
Operation Deep Freeze is the codename 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...
I-IV) included aerial photography using the Trimetrogon system of aerial photographs (TMA; vertical, left, and right oblique images over the same point) over portions of coastal Marie Byrd Land.
The USN began construction of Byrd Station
Byrd Station
Byrd Station refers to a research station established by the United States during the International Geophysical Year by the U.S. Navy during Operation Deep Freeze II in West Antarctica at 80°, 120°W...
at 80°S, 120°W with traverses out of Little America V in 1956-57 during Deep Freeze II. These efforts were in advance of the 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...
(IGY; from July 1957 to end of 1958) that saw several exploratory overland traverses with tractor trains (Sno-cat
Sno-Cat
The Tucker Sno-Cat is a tracked vehicle or a family of tracked vehicles for snow conditions.Different models have been used for expeditions in the Arctic and the Antarctic during the second half of the 20th century...
s and modified bulldozer
Bulldozer
A bulldozer is a crawler equipped with a substantial metal plate used to push large quantities of soil, sand, rubble, etc., during construction work and typically equipped at the rear with a claw-like device to loosen densely-compacted materials.Bulldozers can be found on a wide range of sites,...
s). Starting in January 1957 (pre-IGY) Charles R. Bentley led a traverse from Little America V to the new Byrd station along the route blazed by U.S. Army engineers a few months before (the Army-Navy Drive). His team conducted measurements of ice thickness and of the Earth’s magnetic and gravity field. The following summer season (1957–58) he led a second traverse out of Byrd Station that visited volcanoes of the Marie Byrd Land Volcanic Province for the first time. The traverse reached the Sentinel Mountains beyond eastern Marie Byrd Land before returning to Byrd Station. Bentley led a third traverse out of Byrd Station to the Horlick Mountains
Horlick Mountains
The Horlick Mountains are a mountain range in the Transantarctic Mountains of Antarctica, lying eastward of Reedy Glacier and including the Wisconsin Range, Long Hills and Ohio Range....
in 1958-59. These three traverses led to the discovery of the Bentley Subglacial Trench
Bentley Subglacial Trench
The Bentley Subglacial Trench is a vast topographic trench in Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica, 80°S, 115°W. At 2,555 meters below sea level, it is the lowest point on the surface of the earth not covered by ocean, although it is covered by ice. Most people do not count it as the lowest point on...
or Trough, a deep bedrock chasm between MBL and the Transantarctic Mountains of East Antarctica.
During 1958-1960 TMA flights and a traverse out of Byrd Station visited and mapped the Executive Committee Range
Executive Committee Range
The Executive Committee Range is a range consisting of five major mountains, volcanic in origin, which trends north-south for along the 126th meridian west, in Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica....
. TMA were flown in western Marie Byrd Land in 1964 and 1965. Following these efforts the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) mounted land surveys to establish a series of reference points and benchmarks throughout much of Marie Byrd Land during 1966-1968.
The USS Glacier explored the parts of the Walgreen Coast
Walgreen Coast
The Walgreen Coast is a portion of the coast of Antarctica between Cape Herlacher and Cape Waite, or between Bakutis Coast in the west, and Eights Coast. It is the easternmost part of Marie Byrd Land. It stretches from 114°12'W to 103°24'W. Eights Coast to the east is already part of Ellsworth Land...
and Eights Coast
Eights Coast
Eights Coast is that portion of the coast of West Antarctica between Cape Waite and Pfrogner Point. To the west is Walgreen Coast of Marie Byrd Land, and to the east is Bryan Coast. It is part of Ellsworth Land and stretches between 103°24'W and 89°35'W. This coast is bordered by Thurston Island,...
in 1960-61. It had parties of geologists and surveyors along that were deployed to outcrops on land. This expedition to the far eastern reaches of Marie Byrd Land determined that Thurston Peninsula as proposed by earlier expeditions was in fact an island (Thurston Island
Thurston Island
Thurston Island is an ice-covered, glacially dissected island, long, wide and in area, lying a short way off the NW end of Ellsworth Land, Antarctica. It is the third largest island of Antarctica, after Alexander Island and Berkner Island...
). In the same season a geological party led by Campbell Craddock explored the Jones Mountains
Jones Mountains
The Jones Mountains are an isolated group of mountains, trending generally east-west for 43 km , situated on the Eights Coast, Ellsworth Land, about 80 km south of Dustin Island...
in the adjacent region.
The U.S. Byrd Coastal Survey during 1966-1969, led by F.A. Wade, conducted geologic mapping of the Alexandra and Rockefeller Mountains and the Ford Ranges and produced a series of 1:250,000 geologic maps of the region. This was a complex expedition involving remote helicopter camps and airborne geophysics.
Several geological expeditions explored Marie Byrd Land during the period 1978-1993. New Zealand geologists surveyed the Ford Ranges and Edward VII Peninsula in two expeditions 1978-79, and 1987-88. Exploration of the Marie Byrd Land Volcanic Province began in earnest by U.S. geologists in 1984-85. The WAVE project (West Antarctic Volcano Exploration) focused on the volcanic province during the period 1989-91. The SPRITE project (South Pacific Rim International Tectonic Expedition) explored regions and surroundings of the Hobbs Coast in 1990-93. Members of both projects were from the U.S., Britain, and New Zealand. During the Austral summers of 1989-1990 and 1990-1991 a geological party from the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
(UCSB) explored several of the mountain ranges within the northern Ford Ranges of Marie Byrd Land (FORCE expd.; Ford Ranges Crustal Exploration). GANOVEX VII a multinational expedition led by Germany visited Edward VII Peninsula in 1992-93.
Colorado College
Colorado College
The Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell...
geologists led expeditions to the Ford Ranges in 1998-2001, and 2004-2007 (Fosdick Mountains).
Occupation
Marie Byrd Land hosted the Operation Deep FreezeOperation Deep Freeze
Operation Deep Freeze is the codename 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...
base Byrd Station
Byrd Station
Byrd Station refers to a research station established by the United States during the International Geophysical Year by the U.S. Navy during Operation Deep Freeze II in West Antarctica at 80°, 120°W...
(NBY; originally at 80°S, 120°W, rebuilt at 80°S, 119°W), beginning in 1957, in the hinterland of Bakutis Coast
Bakutis Coast
The Bakutis Coast is that part of the coast of Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica, extending from a point opposite eastern Dean Island, at , to Cape Herlacher, or between Hobbs Coast in the west and Walgreen Coast in the east. It stretches between 127°35'W and 114°12'W. The coast in this area is...
. Byrd Station was the only major base in the interior of West Antarctica for many years. In 1968, the first ice core
Ice core
An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet, most commonly from the polar ice caps of Antarctica, Greenland or from high mountain glaciers elsewhere. As the ice forms from the incremental build up of annual layers of snow, lower layers are older than upper, and an ice...
to fully penetrate the Antarctic Ice Sheet was drilled here. The year-round station was abandoned in 1972, and after operating for years as a temporary summer encampment, Byrd Surface Camp, Byrd Station was reopened by the United States Antarctic Program
United States Antarctic Program
United States Antarctic Program is an organization of the United States government which has presence in the continent of Antarctica. It co-ordinates research and the operational support for research in the region...
(USAP) in 2009-2010 to support operations in northern West Antarctica.
Byrd Station provided a template for the doomed Antarctic base in the horror movie John Carpenter's The Thing.
In 1998-1999, a camp was operated at the Ford Ranges
Ford Ranges
The Ford Ranges is a grouping of mountain ranges standing east of Sulzberger Ice Shelf and Block Bay in the northwest part of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica...
(FRD) in western Marie Byrd Land, supporting a part of a US Antarctic Program (USAP) airborne survey initiated by UCSB and supported by the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics.
In 2004-05, a large camp, Thwaites (THW) was established by the USAP 150 km north of NBY, in order to support a large airborne geophysical survey of eastern Marie Byrd Land by the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics.
In 2006, a major encampment, WAIS Divide (WSD) was established on the divide between the Ross Sea
Ross Sea
The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land.-Description:The Ross Sea was discovered by James Ross in 1841. In the west of the Ross Sea is Ross Island with the Mt. Erebus volcano, in the east Roosevelt Island. The southern part is covered...
Embayment and the Amundsen Sea
Amundsen Sea
The Amundsen Sea is an arm of the Southern Ocean off Marie Byrd Land in western Antarctica. It is bounded by Cape Flying Fish, the northwestern tip of Thurston Island to the east and Cape Dart on Siple Island to the west. East of Cape Flying Fish starts the Bellingshausen Sea. West of Cape Dart is...
Embayment, in easternmost Marie Byrd Land, in order to drill a high resolution ice core
Ice core
An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet, most commonly from the polar ice caps of Antarctica, Greenland or from high mountain glaciers elsewhere. As the ice forms from the incremental build up of annual layers of snow, lower layers are older than upper, and an ice...
over the following three years.
On Ruppert Coast
Ruppert Coast
Ruppert Coast is that portion of the coast of Marie Byrd Land between Brennan Point and Cape Burks, or between Saunders Coast in the west and Hobbs Coast in the east. It stretches from 146°31'W to 136°50'W. It was named by R. Admiral Richard Byrd for Col...
of Marie Byrd Land is the Russian station Russkaya
Russkaya Station
Russkaya station was a Soviet Antarctic research station located at . The station was proposed in 1973 and approved in 1978. Construction began the next year and it was opened on March 9, 1980....
, which was occupied 1980-1990 and is also used as a summer-only station.
See also
- Mount Iphigene
- The BillboardThe BillboardThe Billboard is a massive granite monolith in the Sarnoff Mountains of the Ford Ranges of Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica, standing just west of Mount Rea between Arthur Glacier and Boyd Glacier...
- Terra nulliusTerra nulliusTerra nullius is a Latin expression deriving from Roman law meaning "land belonging to no one" , which is used in international law to describe territory which has never been subject to the sovereignty of any state, or over which any prior sovereign has expressly or implicitly relinquished...
- Western Antarctica
- Peter I islandPeter I IslandPeter I Island is an uninhabited volcanic island in the Bellingshausen Sea, from Antarctica. It is claimed as a dependency of Norway, and along with Queen Maud Land and Bouvet Island comprises one of the three Norwegian dependent territories in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic. Peter I Island is ...
- Pengöpäts