Nichols Snowfield () is a snowfield, 22 nautical miles (41 km) long and 8 nautical miles (15 km) wide, bounded by the
Rouen Mountains
The Rouen Mountains () are a prominent mountain range, reaching to about 2,800 m and extending 35 miles (60 km) NW-SE from Mount Bayonne to Care Heights and Mount Cupola, in north Alexander Island, Antarctica. This mountain range is known ...
and
Elgar Uplands
The Elgar Uplands () are uplands rising to , between Tufts Pass to the north and Sullivan Glacier to the south, in the northern part of Alexander Island, Antarctica. They were first photographed from the air and roughly mapped by the British Grah ...
to the east and
Lassus Mountains
The Lassus Mountains () are a large group of mountains, long and wide, rising to and extending south from Palestrina Glacier in the northwest part of Alexander Island, Antarctica. They overlook Lazarev Bay and a few minor islands within the bay ...
to the west, in the north part of
Alexander Island
Alexander Island, which is also known as Alexander I Island, Alexander I Land, Alexander Land, Alexander I Archipelago, and Zemlja Alexandra I, is the largest island of Antarctica. It lies in the Bellingshausen Sea west of Palmer Land, Antarc ...
,
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
. The snowfield was first sighted from the air and roughly mapped by the
British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE) in 1937. Mapped in detail from air photos taken by the
Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition
The Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition (RARE) was an expedition from 1947–1948 which researched the area surrounding the head of the Weddell Sea in Antarctica.
Background
Finn Ronne led the RARE which was the final privately sponsored exp ...
(RARE), 1947–48, by Searle of the
Falkland Islands Dependencies 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 ...
(FIDS) in 1960. Named by the RARE for Dr.
Robert L. Nichols
Robert L. Nichols (February 9, 1922 – July 4, 2001) was a lieutenant general in the United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch ...
, head of the Department of Geology,
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
, and senior scientist of the Ronne expedition.
Snow fields of Antarctica
Bodies of ice of Alexander Island
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