Miers Valley#Becker Point
{{Short description|Valley in Antarctica}}
{{Infobox valley
| name = Miers Valley
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| photo = Miers Valley CKL.jpg
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| photo_caption = Upper Miers Valley. Adams glacier on the left and Miers glacier on the right
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| map = Antarctica
| map_size = 180
| map_alt =
| map_caption = Miers Valley
| location = Antarctica
| coordinates = {{Coord|78|6|S|164|0|E|source:GNIS|name=Miers Valley|display=it}}
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Miers Valley ({{Coord|78|6|S|164|0|E|source:GNIS|name=Miers Valley}}) is a valley just south of Marshall Valley and west of Koettlitz Glacier, on the coast of Victoria Land, Antarctica.
The valley is ice-free except for Miers Glacier in its upper (western) part and Lake Miers near its center.
It was mapped and named by Robert Falcon Scott's British Antarctic Expedition, 1910–13.{{sfn|Alberts|1995|p=490}}
The name is possibly after Edward J. Miers, a marine biologist from the British Museum (Natural History) who examined crustacea from the Erebus and Terror expeditions.{{sfn|Putnam|1977|p=200}}
{{TOC limit|2}}
Location
Miers Valley is in the Denton Hills.{{sfn|Denton Hills USGS}}
It is one of the McMurdo Dry Valleys.{{sfn|Alberts|1995|p=480}}
It is south of Marshall Valley and north of Hidden Valley, and opens onto the Koettlitz Glacier to the east.
Catacomb Hill rises to the west of the Miers Glacier, at the head of the valley, on a ridge that separates it from the Blue Glacier to the west.
Features include Catacomb Hill, Mount Lama, Miers Glacier, Adams Glacier, Holiday Peak, Lake Miers and Penance Pass.{{sfn|Mount Discovery USGS}}
Features
{{geogroup}}
=Catacomb Hill=
{{coord|78|04|S|163|25|E}}.
A prominent rock peak, {{convert|1,430|m}} high, on the ridge that borders the east side of the head of Blue Glacier.
The New Zealand Blue Glacier Party of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (CTAE; 1956–58) established a survey station on its summit in December 1957.
They gave it this descriptive name from the spectacular cavernous weathering occurring in the granite of the peak.{{sfn|Alberts|1995|p=123}}
=Catacomb Ridge=
{{coord|-78.0833333|163.4}}.
A north–south ridge {{convert|1280|m}} high to the south of Catacomb Hill.
Named by New Zealand Geographic Board (NZGB) (1994) in association with Catacomb Hill.{{sfn|Catacomb Ridge USGS}}
=Mount Lama=
{{coord|78|04|S|163|42|E}}.
A bare rock peak over {{convert|800|m}} high, culminating the ridge north of Miers Glacier and forming the south rampart of the valley named Shangri-la in Victoria Land.
Named in association with Shangri-la by the New Zealand Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expedition (VUWAE), 1960–61.{{sfn|Alberts|1995|p=413}}
=Miers Glacier=
File:Miers Glacier 2016 01.jpg
{{coord|78|05|S|163|40|E}}.
A small glacier north of Terminus Mountain in Victoria Land, occupying the upper (western) portion of Miers Valley.
Mapped and named by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910–13.{{sfn|Alberts|1995|p=490}}
=Aorta Ridge=
{{coord|-78.1|163.5}}
A ridge that separates upper Miers Glacier and Adams Glacier and extends eastward to Holiday Peak in Denton Hills, Scott Coast.
Aorta Ridge was approved by New Zealand Geographic Board (NZGB) in 1994.
The name derives from association with "The Heart," an informal name used in the 1960s for Holiday Peak.{{sfn|Aorta Ridge USGS}}
=Terminus Mountain=
{{coord|78|08|S|163|36|E}}.
Mountain over {{convert|800|m}} high, standing immediately south of Adams Glacier on the east side of the Royal Society Range in Victoria Land.
It was climbed on March 1, 1911 by Taylor and the Western Journey Party of the BrAE, 1910–13. So named by Taylor because it was the
furthest point they ascended in this area.{{sfn|Alberts|1995|pp=738–739}}
=Adams Glacier=
{{coord|78|07|S|163|38|E}}.
A small glacier immediately south of Miers Glacier.
The heads of these two glaciers are separated by a low ridge, and the east end of this ridge is almost completely surrounded by the snouts of the two glaciers, which nearly meet in the bottom of the valley, about {{convert|1|nmi}} above Lake Miers, into which they drain.
Named by the New Zealand Northern Survey Party of the CTAE (1956–58) after Lieutenant (later Sir) Jameson B. Adams, second in command of the shore party of the BrAE (1907–09), who was one of the men to accompany Shackleton to within {{convert|97|nmi}} of the South Pole.{{sfn|Alberts|1995|p=4}}
=Becker Point=
{{coord|-78.1333333|164.2166667}}
A point on Scott Coast at the foot of Miers Valley.
Named by the United States Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) (1994) after Robert A. Becker, Vice President and Project Director (1982–90) of ITT Antarctic Services, corporate contractor to NSF in Antarctica.{{sfn|Becker Point USGS}}
=Holiday Peak=
{{coord|78|06|S|163|36|E}}.
A peak over {{convert|800|m}} high high standing between the lower ends of Miers and Adams Glaciers.
So named by the New Zealand VUWAE, 1960–61, because of its prominent position overlooking the expedition's Christmas camp.{{sfn|Alberts|1995|p=340}}
=Lake Miers=
File:Miers Valley (24674435599).jpg
{{coord|78|06|S|163|51|E}}.
A small lake in Miers Valley, lying {{convert|1|nmi}} east of the snouts of Miers and Adams Glaciers, and filled by meltwater from these glaciers.
A stream from the lake flows down the valley in the warmest weather to reach the coast of Victoria Land.
Named after Miers Glacier in 1957 by the New Zealand Blue Glacier Party of the CTAE, 1956–58.{{sfn|Alberts|1995|p=490}}
=Penance Pass=
{{coord|78|04|S|163|51|E}}.
The lowest, and easternmost, pass from Shangri-la to the Miers Valley.
Named by the New Zealand VUWAE, 1960–61.{{sfn|Alberts|1995|p=565}}
=The Altiplano=
{{coord|-78.1333333|163.9166667}}
A small elevated plain {{convert|550|m}} high between Findlay Ridge and Miers Valley.
So named by a NZGS field party to the area, 1977–78, after the much larger intermontane plateau of the Andes Mountains.{{sfn|The Altiplano USGS}}
=Findlay Ridge=
{{coord|-78.1333333|164}}
A broad ridge which rises to {{convert|750|m}} high between Miers Valley and Hidden Valley.
Named by New Zealand Geographic Board (NZGB) (1994) after New Zealand geologist Robert H. Findlay, a member of the New Zealand geological Survey field party to this area, 1977–78.{{sfn|Findlay Ridge USGS}}
References
{{Reflist|25em}}
Sources
{{sfn whitelist |CITEREFDenton_Hills_USGS |CITEREFCatacomb_Ridge_USGS |CITEREFAorta_Ridge_USGS |CITEREFBecker_Point_USGS |CITEREFThe_Altiplano_USGS |CITEREFFindlay_Ridge_USGS}}
{{refbegin}}
- {{citation|url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/fedgov/70039167/report.pdf |accessdate=2024-01-30 |edition=2
|editor-last=Alberts |title=Geographic Names of the Antarctic |editor-first=Fred G.
|publisher=United States Board on Geographic Names |year=1995}} {{Include-USGov |agency=United States Board on Geographic Names}}
- {{cite gnis2 |type=antarid |id=17055
|name=Aorta Ridge}}
- {{cite gnis2 |type=antarid |id=17062
|name=Becker Point}}
- {{cite gnis2 |type=antarid |id=17070
|name=Catacomb Ridge}}
- {{cite gnis2 |type=antarid |id=17588
|name=Denton Hills}}
- {{cite gnis2 |type=antarid |id=17082
|name=Findlay Ridge}}
- {{citation |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:C78192s1_Ant.Map_Mount_Discovery.jpg |accessdate=2024-02-23
|title=Mount Discovery |publisher=USGS: United States Geological Survey |ref={{harvid|Mount Discovery USGS}} }}
- {{citation |url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Bio22Tuat03-t1-body-d1.html
|last=Putnam|first=George |journal=Tuatara |volume=22 |issue=3 |year=1977 |title=A Brief History of New Zealand Marine Biology}}
- {{cite gnis2 |type=antarid |id=17053
|name=The Altiplano}}
{{refend}}
{{Include-USGov |agency=United States Geological Survey}}