Name StatusApprovedFeatureIce StreamNZ Gazette Reference2003 (73) p.1896DatumRSRGD2000GeoTag[1] PositionDescriptionAn ice stream flowing W to Gould Coast between Mercer Ice Stream and Kamb Ice Stream. One of several major ice streams draining from Marie Byrd Land into the Ross Ice Shelf, it is identified as "Ice Stream B" in reports by the SPRI-NSF-TUD airborne radio echo sounding program (1967-79) and USAP from 1984. The name was changed by US-ACAN in 2001 to honor Ian M. Whillans (1944-2001) glaciologist, Byrd Polar Research Center and Department of Geological Sciences, Ohio State University, whose work in Antarctica spanned the years from 1967 until his death. Whillans was a major figure in the study of West Antarctic ice streams, particularly this one, and he had a central role in recognizing from the earliest years that these ice streams hold the key to determining the stability of the West Antarctic ice sheet.
