Nickerson Ice Shelf is an ice shelf

Ice shelf

An ice shelf is a thick, floating platform of ice that forms where a glacier or ice sheet flows down to a coastline and onto the ocean surface. Ice shelves are only found in Antarctica, Greenland and Canada. The boundary between the floating ice shelf and the grounded ice that feeds it is called...

 about 35 miles wide, lying north of Siemiatkowski Glacier

Siemiatkowski Glacier

Siemiatkowski Glacier is a glacier about 25 miles long, flowing northwest to Nickerson Ice Shelf on the coast of Marie Byrd Land. Mapped from surveys by the United States Geological Survey and U.S. Navy air photos . Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Edmond R. Siemiatkowski,...

 and the western part of Ruppert Coast

Ruppert Coast

Ruppert Coast is that portion of the coast of Marie Byrd Land between Brennan Point and Cape Burks, or between Saunders Coast in the west and Hobbs Coast in the east. It stretches from 146°31'W to 136°50'W. It was named by R. Admiral Richard Byrd for Col...

, Marie Byrd Land

Marie Byrd Land

Marie Byrd Land is the portion of West Antarctica lying east of the Ross Ice Shelf and the Ross Sea and south of the Pacific Ocean, extending eastward approximately to a line between the head of the Ross Ice Shelf and Eights Coast. It stretches between 158°W and 103°24'W...

, Antarctica. First observed and roughly mapped by the Byrd Antarctic Expedition (ByrdAE) (1928-30). Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) for Commander H.J. Nickerson, U.S. Navy (USN), administrative officer on the staff of the Commander, Task Force 43, during Operation Deep Freeze

Operation Deep Freeze

Operation Deep Freeze is the codename for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on...

1966.