Briggs Hill () is a conspicuous ice-free hill, high, standing on the south side of

Ferrar Glacier __NOTOC__ Ferrar Glacier is a glacier in Antarctica. It is about long, flowing from the plateau of Victoria Land west of the Royal Society Range to New Harbour in McMurdo Sound. The glacier makes a right (east) turn northeast of Knobhead, where ...

between Descent Glacier and Overflow Glacier in

Victoria Land Victoria Land is a region in eastern Antarctica which fronts the western side of the Ross Sea and the Ross Ice Shelf, extending southward from about 70°30'S to 78°00'S, and westward from the Ross Sea to the edge of the Antarctic Plateau. It ...

, Antarctica. It was charted by the

British Antarctic Expedition, 1910–13 The ''Terra Nova'' Expedition, officially the British Antarctic Expedition, was an expedition to Antarctica which took place between 1910 and 1913. Led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the expedition had various scientific and geographical objec ...

, under Scott, and named by the United States

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 ...

(US-ACAN) for Raymond S. Briggs,

United States Antarctic Research Program The United States Antarctic Program (or USAP; formerly known as the United States Antarctic Research Program or USARP and the United States Antarctic Service or USAS) is an organization of the United States government which has presence in the A ...

meteorologist at

McMurdo Station McMurdo Station is a United States Antarctic research station on the south tip of Ross Island, which is in the New Zealand-claimed Ross Dependency on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. It is operated by the United States through the Unit ...

in 1962, and station scientific leader there in 1963.

Location

Briggs Hill is in the northeast of the

Royal Society Range The Royal Society Range () is a mountain range in Victoria Land, Antarctica. With its summit at , the massive Mount Lister forms the highest point in this range. Mount Lister is located along the western shore of McMurdo Sound between the Koett ...

. It faces

to the northwest. and is bound by the Descent Glacier to the southwest and the Overflow Glacier to the northeast. Descent Pass is to the southeast, leading towards Granite Knolls and the

Blue Glacier Blue Glacier is a large glacier located to the north of Mount Olympus in the Olympic Mountains of Washington. The glacier covers an area of and contains of ice and snow in spite of its low terminus elevation. The glacier length has decreased fr ...

Features

Features and nearby features include:

Mount Huxley

. A mountain, high, between lower Condit Glacier and Descent Glacier, marginal to Ferrar Glacier. Named in 1992 by US-ACAN after Leonard Huxley, editor of Scott's Last Expedition, two volumes, London, 1913; Volume I being the journals of Capt. R.F. Scott, RN; Volume II being the reports of journeys and scientific work undertaken by E.A. Wilson and the surviving members of the expedition. The work has long been acclaimed among narrative reports to come out of the heroic era.

Todd Hill

. . A bluff type elevation high which forms the south extremity of the Briggs Hill massif and the north point of entrance to Descent Pass (leading to Ferrar Glacier). Named in 1992 by the United States

(US-ACAN) after Ronald L. Todd, cartographer,

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the 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, ...

(USGS); member of the USGS field team which established geodetic control in the Hudson Mountains, Jones Mountains, Thurston Island and Farwell Island areas of Walgreen Coast and Eights Coast during the 1968-69 season.

Descent Pass

A pass leading from Blue Glacier to Ferrar Glacier. So named by the party led by Armitage of the

British National Antarctic Expedition The ''Discovery'' Expedition of 1901–1904, known officially as the British National Antarctic Expedition, was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since the voyage of James Clark Ross sixty years earlier (1839–18 ...

(BrNAE; 1901-04) because of the adventurous descent to Ferrar Glacier made here via Descent Glacier in 1902.

Pearsall Ridge

. A ridge, for the most part ice covered, which extends east-northeast from Royal Society Range between Descent Pass and Covert Glacier. Named in 1992 by US-ACAN after Richard A. Pearsall, cartographer, USGS; member of the USGS geodetic control party to the Ellsworth Mountains in the 1979-80 season; additional work during the season at South Pole Station, determining the true position of the Geographic South Pole.

Stoner Peak

. A distinctive peak, high, surmounting the east extremity of the ridge between

Covert Glacier Covert Glacier () is a glacier flowing from the northeast part of the Royal Society Range between Pearsall Ridge and Stoner Peak, joining the Blue Glacier drainage in the vicinity of Granite Knolls, Victoria Land. It was named in 1992 by the Advis ...

and

Spring Glacier Spring Glacier () is a glacier flowing from the northeast portion of Royal Society Range between Stoner Peak and Transit Ridge, joining the Blue Glacier (Antarctica), Blue Glacier drainage south of Granite Knolls, in Victoria Land. Named in 1992 by ...

and forming its highest point. Named by US-ACAN after James E. Stoner, cartographer, USGS; active in geodetic control planning and data reduction in USGS from 1981; member of USGS geodetic control teams in McMurdo Dry Valleys during the 1986-87 and 1989-90 field seasons; team leader, 1989-90, with additional control work in remote sites working from U.S. icebreakers.

Granite Knolls

. Conspicuous rock outcrops on the northwest flank of Blue Glacier, west of

Hobbs Peak Hobbs Peak () is a prominent peak, high, on the divide between Hobbs Glacier and Blue Glacier in Victoria Land, Antarctica. It is the highest point on the east–west section of this dividing ridge. The peak was climbed by members of the Victori ...

. This descriptive name was given by the

(BrAE) under Scott.Jones Mountains, Thurston Island and Harwell Island areas of Walgreen Coast and Eights Coast during the 1968-69 season.

Anderson Knoll

. The southernmost nunatak in Granite Knolls, south of the main massif and marginal to Blue Glacier. Named by US-ACAN after Klaus G. Anderson (d. 1991), civil engineering technician, USGS, 1960-90; member of the

(USGS) field team which established geodetic control in the Hudson Mountains, Jones Mountains, Thurston Island and Harwell Island areas of Walgreen Coast and Eights Coast during the 1968-69 season.

Chain Nunataks

. A linear series of nunataks to the west of Blue Glacier, running west-northwest–east-southeast for between Briggs Hill and Hannon Hill. The name is one of a group in the area associated with surveying applied in 1993 by the NZGB. Named with reference to a surveyor's chain.

Hannon Hill

. A bare rock hill ( high on the west side of the terminus of Amos Glacier, at the juncture with Blue Glacier. Named in 1992 by US-ACAN after Timothy J. Hannon, cartographer, USGS; leader of the two man USGS team working jointly out of Vanda Station with a N.Z. team in the 1988-89 season to establish new geodetic controls and observe old stations in the McMurdo Dry Valleys; relocated the position of the Geographic South Pole.

References

Sources

* * {{Include-USGov , agency=United States Geological Survey Hills of Victoria Land Scott Coast