Kirwan Escarpment

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Kirwan Escarpment (73°25′S, 3°30′W) is a prominent northwest-facing escarpment which lies south of the Penck Trough in Queen Maud Land. The escarpment is featured by moderate-height cliffs and prominent rock spurs interspersed with glaciers and steep ice slopes and trends NE-SW for about 90 miles. At least the northern end of this feature (Neumayer Cliffs) was included in the aerial photography of the general area by the German Antarctic Expedition (1938-39), but the maps resulting from that expedition do not portray the escarpment properly. The escarpment was mapped by Norwegian cartographers from surveys and air photos (1958-59) and named for Laurence P. Kirwan, Director of the Royal Geographical Society.

This article incorporates text from Kirwan Escarpment, in the Geographic Names Information System, operated by the United States Geological Survey, and therefore a public domain work of the United States Government.