Cape Nutt is a mostly ice-covered cape with several rock outcrops at the extremity, forming the west side of the entrance to Vincennes Bay

Vincennes Bay

Vincennes Bay is a large V-shaped bay, 105 km wide at its entrance between Cape Nutt and Cape Folger in Antarctica, marked by several large, steep glaciers near its head, lying along Knox and Budd Coasts. Photographed from the air by USN OpHjp, 1946-47...

. The position of Cape Nutt correlates closely with the eastern end of "Knox's High Land" as charted as a coastal landfall in 1840 by the United States Exploring Expedition

United States Exploring Expedition

The United States Exploring Expedition was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States from 1838 to 1842. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby Jones. The voyage was authorized by Congress in...

 under Lieutenant Charles Wilkes

Charles Wilkes

Charles Wilkes was an American naval officer and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 and commanded the ship in the Trent Affair during the American Civil War...

. The cape was mapped from air photos taken by U.S. Navy Operation Highjump, 1946-47. Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names

Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names

The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending names for features in Antarctica...

 (US-ACAN) for Commander David C. Nutt, U.S. Navy Reserve, research assistant in geography at Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...

, who served as a marine biologist on U.S. Navy Operation Windmill, 1947-48.