Shotton Snowfield () is a large snowfield between

Herbert Mountains The Herbert Mountains () are a conspicuous group of rock summits on the east side of Gordon Glacier in the Shackleton Range of Antarctica. They were first mapped in 1957 by the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition The Commonwealth Trans-Ant ...

and

Pioneers Escarpment Pioneers Escarpment () is a mostly snow-covered north-facing escarpment, interrupted by occasional bluffs and spurs, between Slessor Glacier on the north and Shotton Snowfield on the south, in the Shackleton Range. The escarpment was photographe ...

on the north and Read Mountains on the south, in the Shackleton Range of Antarctica.

Location

The Shackleton Range is an ice-covered plateau between high that rises between two large glaciers. It is a rectangular horst rising above major fault zones now under the

Slessor Glacier The Slessor Glacier is a glacier at least 140 km (75 nmi) long and 90 km (50 nmi) wide, flowing west into the Filchner Ice Shelf to the north of the Shackleton Range. First seen from the air and mapped by the Commonwealth Trans-Antarct ...

to the north and Recovery Glacier glacier to the south. The center of the range is covered by a long ice cap stretching from the

Fuchs Dome Fuchs Dome is a large ice-covered dome rising over , between Stratton Glacier and Gordon Glacier in the central part of the Shackleton Range, Antarctica. It was first mapped in 1957 by the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition The Commonwea ...

in the west to Shotton Snowfield in the east, and bounded by cliffs as high as . The Shotton Snowfield extends east from the Gordon Glacier, which separates it from

. The Read Mountains separate it from the Recovery Glacier to the south. The

are northwest of the snowfield, and further east the

lies between it and the

to the north. The snowfield stretches eastward until it merges into the Antarctic ice sheet. Shotton Snowfield, Fuchs Dome and the table mountains that surround them are the remnants of a peneplain. The southern edges of the snowfield have flat rocky areas against cliffs that rise for up to . The ice in most of the snowfield flows north, over the escarpment and into the Slessor Glacier. Ice from a small area in the southwest of the snowfield flows south between the Read Mountains and the

Stephenson Bastion Stephenson Bastion is a mountain massif with steep rock cliffs on its south side, rising to 1,850 m in the south-central part of Shackleton Range. It was first mapped in 1957 by the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, and it was photographe ...

into the Recovery Glacier.

Geology

The Shackleton Range Metamorphic Complex forms the metamorphic basement of almost the entire Shackleton Range. It seems to be part of the Antarctic Shield. It is formed from sedimentary rocks that have been metamorphosed in some regions, more in the south than the north of the range. The

Flett Crags Read Mountains is a group of rocky summits, the highest Holmes Summit 1,875 m, lying east of Glen Glacier in the south-central part of the Shackleton Range. First mapped in 1957 by the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition and named for Profess ...

formation, part of the Turnpike Bluff Group, mainly consists of slate, but contains some bands of quartzite and pebbly conglomerate. It can be seen in the

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. ...

s north of the Read Mountains escarpment. It is probably over thick, and may be assumed to extend northward under the Shotton Snowfield. The Turnpike Bluff group rests unconformably on the Shackleton Range Metamorphic Complex. It has not been directly dated, but is probably late

Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...

or perhaps in part

Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...

Exploration

The United States Navy obtained aerial photographs of the feature in 1967 and it was surveyed by

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...

(BAS), 1968–71. It was named by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC), 1971, in association with the names of glacial geologists grouped in this area, after Frederick William Shotton (1906–90), British

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

geologist and Professor of Geology, University of Birmingham, 1949–74. Not: Shottonfonna.

Nunataks

Isolated

s in the snowfield that are named on the 1983 United States Geological Survey map are (west to east):

Freshfield Nunatak

. An isolated nunatak rising to c. to the southeast of Herbert Mountains in the Shackleton Range. Photographed from the air by the U.S. Navy, 1967, and surveyed by BAS, 1968-71. In association with the names of pioneers of polar life and exploration grouped in this area, named by the UK-APC in 1971 after

Douglas W. Freshfield Douglas William Freshfield (27 April 1845 – 9 February 1934) was a British lawyer, mountaineer and author, who edited the '' Alpine Journal ''from 1872 to 1880. He was an active member of the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club and ...

(1845-1934), English geographer and mountaineer in the Caucasus Mountains and the Himalayas. Freshfield Nunatak should perhaps be seen as part of the

. Rocks include

biotite Biotite is a common group of phyllosilicate minerals within the mica group, with the approximate chemical formula . It is primarily a solid-solution series between the iron-endmember annite, and the magnesium-endmember phlogopite; more alumino ...

schists and biotite quartzite.

Bergan Castle

. A castlelike nunatak rising to to the southwest of Mount Dewar in Shotton Snowfield, Shackleton Range. Photographed from the air by the U.S. Navy, 1967. Surveyed by BAS, 1968-71. In association with the names of pioneers of polar life and travel grouped in this area, named by the UK-APC in 1971 after Ole Ferdinand Bergan (1876-1956), Norwegian inventor who designed Bergan's "meis" (carrying frames) and rucksacks, patented in Norway in 1909. Bergan Castle contains an intensely folded sericite quartzite or muscovite quartzite, partly blastomylonitic.

Lindqvist Nunatak

. A nunatak south of Chevreul Cliffs, rising to in the east part of Shotton Snowfield, Shackleton Range. Photographed from the air by the U.S. Navy in 1967 and surveyed by BAS, 1968-71. In association with the names of pioneers of polar life and travel grouped in this area, named by the UK-APC after

Frans W. Lindqvist Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist (1862 – 1931) was a Sweden, Swedish inventor. He designed the first sootless kerosene stove, operated by compressed air. He started a company, Primus AB, Primus, to manufacture and sell the Primus stove. Lindqvist wa ...

(1862-1931), Swedish inventor of the Primus pressure stove in 1892. Not: Lindquist Nunatak, Lindqvist Island. Lindqvist Nunatak contains a plagioclase-microcline gneiss and a quartzitic gneiss with cataclastic and/or blastomylonitic texture. An amphibolite has also been found there that contained light-brown biotite with incIusions of zircon and rutile.

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{refend Snow fields of Antarctica Bodies of ice of Coats Land