It was named after the wife of American naval officer Richard E. Byrd, who explored the region in the early 20th century.

Because of its remoteness, even by Antarctic standards, most of Marie Byrd Land (the portion east of 150°W) has not been claimed by any sovereign state.

It is by far the largest single unclaimed territory on Earth, with an area of 1,610,000 km2 (620,000 sq mi), including Eights Coast, immediately east of Marie Byrd Land.

The far western coast of Marie Byrd Land was seen from the decks of Robert Falcon Scott's ship Discovery in 1902.

He named the peninsula adjacent to the Ross Sea King Edward VII Land and the scattered outcrops that were within sight, the Alexandra Mountains.

At the same time the first Japanese Antarctic Expedition led by Nobu Shirase landed a shore party on the peninsula.

[5] The first deep overland exploration occurred during the second Byrd expedition (1933–1935) when a sledge party led by Paul Siple and Franklin Alton Wade reached as far east as the Fosdick Mountains in 1934.

[7] Exploration flights out of these two bases led to the discovery of most of the Marie Byrd Land Volcanic Province (e.g. Executive Committee Range[8]) and much of the coastal region including the Walgreen, Hobbs, and Ruppert Coasts.

[9] During the expedition trail parties from West Base visited the northern Ford Ranges and south slopes of the Fosdick Mountains.

These efforts were in advance of the International Geophysical Year (IGY; from July 1957 to end of 1958) that saw several exploratory overland traverses with tractor trains (Sno-cats and modified bulldozers).

Starting in January 1957 (pre-IGY) Charles R. Bentley led a traverse from Little America V to the new Byrd station along the route blazed by United States Army engineers a few months before (the Army-Navy Drive[12]).

These three traverses led to the discovery of the Bentley Subglacial Trench or Trough, a deep bedrock chasm between MBL and the Transantarctic Mountains of East Antarctica.

[15] In the same season a geological party led by Campbell Craddock explored the Jones Mountains in the adjacent region.

The SPRITE project (South Pacific Rim International Tectonic Expedition)[25] explored regions and surroundings of the Hobbs Coast in 1990–1993.

[35][36] In 2018, the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration[37] commenced with a large and ongoing physical presence onshore of the Amundsen Sea.

It entails marine, airborne, and on-ice geophysical exploration that will illuminate the character of Marie Byrd Land bedrock geology and the nature of the eastern boundary of the province.

The goal is determining the stability of the glacier and prediction of global sea level rise from shrinking of the WAIS.

[38] The West Antarctic Rift System (WARS[39]) that evolved over the last hundred million years, includes all or part of Marie Byrd Land.

[47][48][49] Heat from the plume has been proposed responsible for uplift of a significant portion of West Antarctica to form the Marie Byrd Land Dome.

[17] Away from the coasts, the WAIS buries individual mountains and ranges that are not named, the exception being major features such as the Bentley Subglacial Trench.