Watson Escarpment is a major escarpment in the Queen Maud Mountains

Queen Maud Mountains

The Queen Maud Mountains are a major group of mountains, ranges and subordinate features of the Transantarctic Mountains, lying between the Beardmore and Reedy Glaciers and including the area from the head of the Ross Ice Shelf to the polar plateau in Antarctica...

, trending northward along the east margin of Scott Glacier

Scott Glacier (Transantarctic Mountains)

The Scott Glacier is a major glacier, 120 miles long, that drains the East Antarctic Ice Sheet through the Queen Maud Mountains to the Ross Ice Shelf...

, then eastward to Reedy Glacier

Reedy Glacier

The Reedy Glacier is a major glacier in Antarctica, over 160 km long and from 10 to 19 km wide, descending from the polar plateau to the Ross Ice Shelf between the Michigan Plateau and Wisconsin Range, and marking the limits of the Queen Maud Mountains on the west and the Horlick...

 where it turns southward along the glacier

Glacier

A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...

's west side. Somewhat arcuate, the escarpment is nearly 100 nautical miles (180 km) long, rises 3,550 m above sea level, and 1,000 to 1,500 m above the adjacent terrain. The north-central part of the escarpment was observed from a vantage point on Supporting Party Mountain

Supporting Party Mountain

Supporting Party Mountain is a mountain, 560 m, standing 3 miles east of Mount Fridovich in the Harold Byrd Mountains. Discovered in December 1929 by members of the Byrd Antarctic Expedition Geological Sledging Party under Laurence Gould. Named by them in appreciation of the splendid cooperative...

 and was partially mapped in December 1929 by the Byrd Antarctic Expedition geological party under Laurence Gould. The escarpment was more closely observed in December 1934 by the Byrd Antarctic Expedition geological party under Quin Blackburn, and was named by Byrd for Thomas J. Watson

Thomas J. Watson

Thomas John Watson, Sr. was president of International Business Machines , who oversaw that company's growth into an international force from 1914 to 1956...

, American business executive, a patron of this expedition. The escarpment was mapped in detail by 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) from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1960-64.