Antarctic mountain named in honour of BGS scientist

Each year, the Antarctic Place-names Committee recommends new names for geographical features, to honour scientists and support staff who have worked in the region. This year, they have announced that a 2000 m mountain on the southern Antarctic Peninsula will be named Mount Millar after Dr Ian Millar of the British Geological Survey (BGS).

Ian, who works at BGS’s headquarters in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, worked for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) for more than 21 years before he became an isotope geochemist at BGS in 2005. During his time at BAS, he took part in several field seasons and cruises in and around the Antarctic Peninsula and Transantarctic Mountains, spending more than a year in total working on the southern continent.

In 1991, Ian spent ten weeks camping and travelling by skidoo with a field guide in a remote area of the southern part of the Antarctic Peninsula, collecting rock samples in order to determine the ages of the rocks, working close to the location of Mount Millar. His work there contributed to determining the geological history of the peninsula through detailed geochronology.

I have been incredibly lucky to undertake some amazing fieldwork during my career, both in Antarctica with BAS and, more recently, in much warmer regions like North Africa and south-east Asia since joining BGS.

Dr Ian Millar, BGS Isotope Geochemist.

Mount Millar can be found on the Antarctic Place-names Committee’s website.

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