Saunders Coast is that portion of the coast of 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...

 between Cape Colbeck

Cape Colbeck

Cape Colbeck is a prominent ice-covered cape which forms the northwestern extremity of the Edward VII Peninsula and Marie Byrd Land in Antarctica. It was discovered in January 1902 by the British National Antarctic Expedition expedition and named for Captain William Colbeck, Royal Naval Reserve,...

 and Brennan Point

Brennan Point

Brennan Point is an ice-covered headland forming the eastern side of the entrance to Block Bay on the coast of Marie Byrd Land; Brennan Point forms a border between Saunders Coast and Ruppert Coast. It was discovered on the Byrd Antarctic Expedition flight along this coast on December 5, 1929,...

, or between Shirase Coast

Shirase Coast

Shirase Coast is the north segment of the relatively ill-defined coast along the east side of Ross Ice Shelf and Ross Sea, lying between the north end of Siple Coast and Cape Colbeck. Named by NZ-APC in 1961 after Lieutenant Nobu Shirase , leader of the Japanese expedition, whose ship Kainan Maru...

 in the west and 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...

 in the east. It stretches from 158°00'W to 146°31'W. The portion west of 150°W is part of Ross Dependency

Ross Dependency

The Ross Dependency is a region of Antarctica defined by a sector originating at the South Pole, passing along longitudes 160° east to 150° west, and terminating at latitude 60° south...

, while the remaining area is unclaimed by any nation. This coast was explored from the air on December 5, 1929, by the Byrd Antarctic Expedition (1928-30) and was first mapped from aerial photographs obtained on that flight by Capt. Harold E. Saunders, USN, for whom the coast is named. The United States Geological Survey

United States Geological Survey

The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...

 (USGS) completely mapped the coast from ground surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1959-65.

Saunders Basin is an undersea basin in the central Ross shelf named in association with Saunders Coast

Saunders Coast

Saunders Coast is that portion of the coast of Marie Byrd Land between Cape Colbeck and Brennan Point, or between Shirase Coast in the west and Ruppert Coast in the east. It stretches from 158°00'W to 146°31'W. The portion west of 150°W is part of Ross Dependency, while the remaining area is...

. Name approved 6/88 (ACUF 228).