Dotson Ice Shelf
Encyclopedia
Dotson Ice Shelf is an ice shelf
about 48 km (30 mi) wide between Martin
and Bear Peninsula
s on the coast of Marie Byrd Land
in Antarctica.
First mapped by USGS from air photos obtained by USN Operation Highjump
in January 1947. Named by US-ACAN for Lt. William A. Dotson, USN, formerly Officer in Charge of the Ice Reconnaissance Unit of the Naval Oceanographic Office, killed in a plane crash in Alaska
in November 1964 while on an ice reconnaissance mission.
Ice shelf
An ice shelf is a thick, floating platform of ice that forms where a glacier or ice sheet flows down to a coastline and onto the ocean surface. Ice shelves are only found in Antarctica, Greenland and Canada. The boundary between the floating ice shelf and the grounded ice that feeds it is called...
about 48 km (30 mi) wide between Martin
Martin Peninsula
Martin Peninsula is a peninsula about 96 km mi long and 32 km wide that is ice covered except for a few rock outcrops along its margins, located between Getz Ice Shelf and Dotson Ice Shelf on the coast of Marie Byrd Land. The farthest point of the peninsula is Jacobsen Head.Delineated...
and Bear Peninsula
Bear Peninsula
Bear Peninsula is a peninsula about 80 km long and 40 km wide which is ice covered except for several isolated rock bluffs and outcrops along its margins, lying 48 km 30 mi) east of Martin Peninsula on Walgreen Coast, Marie Byrd Land.First delineated from aerial photographs...
s on the coast of Marie Byrd Land
Marie Byrd Land
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...
in Antarctica.
First mapped by USGS from air photos obtained by USN 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....
in January 1947. Named by US-ACAN for Lt. William A. Dotson, USN, formerly Officer in Charge of the Ice Reconnaissance Unit of the Naval Oceanographic Office, killed in a plane crash in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
in November 1964 while on an ice reconnaissance mission.