The Kirwan Escarpment ( no, Kirwanveggen) is a prominent northwest-facing

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...

which lies south of the

Penck Trough Penck Trough (german: Penckmulde) is a broad ice-filled valley trending southwest to northeast, for about between Borg Massif and the northeast part of Kirwan Escarpment, in Queen Maud Land. It was discovered by the Third German Antarctic Expediti ...

Queen Maud Land Queen Maud Land ( no, Dronning Maud Land) is a roughly region of Antarctica claimed by Norway as a dependent territory. It borders the claimed British Antarctic Territory 20° west and the Australian Antarctic Territory 45° east. In addit ...

, Antarctica. The escarpment is featured by moderate-height cliffs and prominent rock spurs interspersed with glaciers and steep ice slopes and trends northeast–southwest for about . At least the northern end of this feature (

Neumayer Cliffs Neumayer Cliffs (german: Neumayersteilwand, ) is a series of abrupt rock cliffs forming the northeast end of Kirwan Escarpment in Queen Maud Land. Discovered by the German Antarctic Expedition under Alfred Ritscher, 1938–39, and named for German ...

) was included in the aerial photography of the general area by the

Third German Antarctic Expedition New Swabia (Norwegian and german: Neuschwabenland) was a disputed Antarctic claim by Nazi Germany within the Norwegian territorial claim of Queen Maud Land and is now a cartographic name sometimes given to an area of Antarctica between 20°E a ...

(1938–39), but the maps resulting from that expedition do not portray the escarpment properly. The escarpment was mapped by Norwegian cartographers from surveys and air photos (1958–59) and named for

Laurence P. Kirwan Sir Archibald Laurence Patrick Kirwan KCMG (13 May 1907 – 16 April 1999) was a British archaeologist and geographer who made major contributions to the study of ancient Egypt, Nubia, East Africa and South Arabia. ''The Guardian'', in his obitua ...

, Director of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. Skavlsletta Flat is a small ice-covered area lying between Svartbandufsa Bluff and Tverregga Spur in the Kirwan Escarpment. Norwegian cartographers named it Skavlsletta, meaning "the snowdrift plain". The Duken Flat is located near the southwest end of the escarpment.

References

Landforms of Queen Maud Land Escarpments of Antarctica Princess Martha Coast {{PrincessMarthaCoast-geo-stub

See also

References