The Darley Hills () are a range of high, ice-covered coastal hills in the

Churchill Mountains The Churchill Mountains are a mountain range group of the Transantarctic Mountains System, located in the Ross Dependency region of Antarctica. They border on the western side of the Ross Ice Shelf, between Byrd Glacier and Nimrod Glacier. Seve ...

, Antarctica.

Location

The Darley Hills overlook the

Ross Ice Shelf The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica (, an area of roughly and about across: about the size of France). It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than long, and between hi ...

, and trend north–south for about between Cape Douglas and

Cape Parr Cape Parr () is a large snow-covered cape along the west side of the Ross Ice Shelf The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica (, an area of roughly and about across: about the size of France). It is several hundred metres thic ...

. To the west, they are bounded by the Skinner Saddle in the north, from which Nursery Glacier flows south and then east into the Ross Ice Shelf.

Name

The hills were named by the

Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (ACAN or US-ACAN) is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending commemorative names for features in Antarctica. History The committee was established ...

for James M. Darley, chief cartographer of the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...

, 1940–63, under whose direction many important maps of Antarctica were published.

Features

Geographical features from north to south include:

Skinner Saddle

. A high, broad, snow-covered saddle between the northern part of Darley Hills and that portion of Churchill Mountains eastward of Mount Durnford. Mapped by the Northern Party of NZGSAE (1960-61) and named for D.N. Skinner, geologist with the party.

Riddiford Nunatak

) A small but conspicuous

nunatak A nunatak (from Inuit ''nunataq'') is the summit or ridge of a mountain that protrudes from an ice field or glacier that otherwise covers most of the mountain or ridge. They are also called glacial islands. Examples are natural pyramidal peaks. ...

(c.1200 m) with an adjoining lower outcrop, lying 2.5 nautical miles (4.6 km) west-northwest of Abercrombie Crests in Darley Hills, Churchill Mountains. Named by

(US-ACAN) after Charles E. Riddiford, ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

'' cartographer/typographer, about 1923–58; his drawings illustrate the NGM monograph ''The Round Earth on Flat Paper'', 1947.

Abercrombie Crests

. A cluster of rock summits rising to in the north part of Darley Hills, Churchill Mountains, south-southeast of

Mount Deleon Nicholson Peninsula () is a broad ice-covered peninsula about 15 nautical miles (28 km) long, between Couzens Bay and Matterson Inlet on the Shackleton Coast on the west side of the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Location Nicholson Peninsula f ...

. Named by

(US-ACAN) after Thomas J. Abercrombie of ''National Geographic'' Foreign Editorial Staff, 1957–90, who was on assignment in Antarctica, 1957–58.

Chamberlin Rampart

). A a series of ice-covered bluffs midway along the west slope of the Darley Hills, in the Churchill Mountains. The bluffs rise to and are interspaced by heavily crevassed ice. The feature was named by the

after Wellman Chamberlin, a ''National Geographic'' cartographer, from about 1935 to 1970, and author of the NGM monograph ''The Round Earth on Flat Paper'', 1947.

Constellation Dome

. An ice-covered prominence, high, the highest feature in the Darley Hills, standing west of Gentile Point, between the

and Nursery Glacier. So named by the Northern Party of the NZGSAE (1960–61) because it was here that the party carried out the first astro fix of the journey.

Gentile Point

. A rounded, ice-covered point north of Cape Parr, extending seaward from Darley Hills on the west side of Ross Ice Shelf. Named by US-ACAN for Peter A. Gentile, Master of USNS Alatna in USN OpDFrz 1961, and of USNS Chattahoochee which made four fuel-carrying trips between New Zealand and McMurdo Sound in USN OpDFrz 1963.

Fisher Point

A rock coastal point on the east margin of the Darley Hills, in the Churchill Mountains of Antarctica. The point marks the south side of the mouth of ice-filled Grazzini Bay at the

. It was named by the

after Franklin L. Fisher, Chief of the Illustrations Division, ''National Geographic'', about 1905–49.

Grazzini Bay

An ice-filled coastal embayment, , between Gentile Point and Fisher Point on the east side of the

Darley Hills The Darley Hills () are a range of high, ice-covered coastal hills in the Churchill Mountains, Antarctica. Location The Darley Hills overlook the Ross Ice Shelf, and trend north–south for about between Cape Douglas and Cape Parr. To the west, ...

, in the

of Antarctica. The bay opens to the

. It was named by the

after Athos D. Grazzini, a cartographer and toponymic specialist on the ''

'' staff from about 1950–70.

Boyer Bluff

. A a mostly ice-covered bluff, high, at the southwest periphery of the Darley Hills in the Churchill Mountains. The feature is southwest of Constellation Dome. It was named by the

after David S. Boyer of the ''

'' Foreign Editorial Staff, who was on assignment in Antarctica, 1956–57. This is just one of several features in the Darley Hills that are named for NGM staff.

Nursery Glacier

. Glacier about long, flowing southeast along the west side of Darley Hills to enter Ross Ice Shelf just south of

. So named by the NZGSAE (1959-60) because it was on this glacier that a litter of husky pups was born.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * *{{Include-USGov , agency=United States Geological Survey Hills of Antarctica Mountain ranges of the Ross Dependency Transantarctic Mountains Shackleton Coast