Cheeks Nunatak () is the largest and southernmost of three

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 located northwest of the

Merrick Mountains The Merrick Mountains () are a cluster of mountains, 13 km (8 mi) long, standing 11 km (7 mi) northeast of the Behrendt Mountains in Ellsworth Land, Antarctica. Discovered and photographed from the air by the Ronne Antarctic ...

, in

Palmer Land Palmer Land () is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica that lies south of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This application of Palmer Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the Advisory Committee on Antarctic N ...

. It was mapped by the

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, ...

from surveys and from

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

air photos, 1961–67, and 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 Noble L. Cheeks, aviation electronics technician, member of the

R4D The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in f ...

party that flew to the vicinity of the eventual Eights Station in 1961 to set up a base camp.

References

Nunataks of Palmer Land {{PalmerLand-geo-stub