They were first photographed from the air and plotted by the Third German Antarctic Expedition (1938–39), mapped by Norwegian cartographers from surveys and air photos by the Sixth Norwegian Antarctic Expedition (1956–60) and named for Adolf Hoel, a Norwegian geologist and Arctic explorer, leader and member of many expeditions to Greenland and Spitsbergen since 1907.
The Third German Antarctic Expedition (1938–39) took the initial aerial photographs of these areas and plotted them; subsequent mapping was done by Norwegian cartographers using surveys and air photos from the Sixth Norwegian Antarctic Expedition (1956–60). The area was named after Adolf Hoel, a Norwegian geologist and Arctic explorer who led expeditions to Greenland and Spitsbergen since 1907.