The history of Antarctica emerges from early Western theories of a vast continent, known as Terra Australis, believed to exist in the far south of the globe. The term Antarctic, referring to the opposite of the Arctic Circle, was coined by Marinus of Tyre in the 2nd century AD.
Elephant Island is an ice-covered mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean. Its name was given by early explorers sighting elephant seals on its shores. The island is situated 245 kilometres north-northeast of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, 1,253 kilometres west-southwest of South Georgia, 935 kilometres south of the Falkland Islands, and 885 kilometres southeast of Cape Horn. It is within the Antarctic claims of Argentina, Chile and the UK. Brazil has a shelter on the island, Goeldi, supporting the work of up to six researchers each during the summer and had another (Wiltgen), which was dismantled in the summer of 1997/98.
Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen, a Baltic German naval officer in the Imperial Russian Navy, cartographer and explorer, who ultimately rose to the rank of admiral. He participated in the First Russian circumnavigation of the globe and subsequently became a leader of another circumnavigation expedition that discovered the continent of Antarctica.
New Swabia is a cartographic name sometimes given to an area of Antarctica between 20°E and 10°W in Queen Maud Land, which is claimed as a Norwegian dependent territory under the Antarctic Treaty System. New Swabia was explored by Germany in early 1939 and named after that expedition's ship, Schwabenland, itself named after the German region of Swabia.
The Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions is the historical name for the Australian Antarctic Program (AAp) administered for Australia by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD).
Brabant Island is the second largest island of the Palmer Archipelago within the British Antarctic Territory, lying between Anvers Island and Liège Island. Brabant Island is 59 km (37 mi) long north-south, 30 km (19 mi) wide, and rises to 2,520 m (8,268 ft) in Mount Parry. The interior of the island is occupied by two mountain ranges, Solvay Mountains in its southern part and Stribog Mountains in its central and northern parts.
Adelaide Island or Isla Adelaida or Isla Belgrano is a large, mainly ice-covered island, 139 kilometres (75 nmi) long and 37 kilometres (20 nmi) wide, lying at the north side of Marguerite Bay off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. The Ginger Islands lie off the southern end. Mount Bodys is the easternmost mountain on Adelaide Island, rising to over 1,220 m. The island lies within the Argentine, British and Chilean Antarctic claims.
Danco Island or Isla Dedo is an island off Antarctica, 2 kilometres (1 nmi) long lying in the southern part of Errera Channel, off the west coast of Graham Land. It was charted by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition under Adrien de Gerlache, 1897–1899. Danco Island was surveyed by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey from Norsel in 1955, and named by the UK Antarctic Place-names Committee for Emile Danco (1869–1898), a Belgian geophysicist and member of the Belgian Antarctic Expedition, who died on board Belgica in the Antarctic.
The Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition (RARE) was an expedition from 1947–1948 which researched the area surrounding the head of the Weddell Sea in Antarctica.
The French Antarctic Expedition is any of several French expeditions in Antarctica.
A number of governments have set up permanent research stations in Antarctica and these bases are widely distributed. Unlike the drifting ice stations set up in the Arctic, the research stations of the Antarctic are constructed either on rock or on ice that is fixed in place.
The Swedish Antarctic Expedition (1901–1904) was led by Otto Nordenskjöld and Carl Anton Larsen.
The Canopus Rocks are two small, low rocks lying 2 kilometres (1 nmi) northwest of Canopus Island, 2 kilometres (1 nmi) east of Nella Rock and the Sawert Rocks, and 1.9 kilometres (1 nmi) southeast of Hansen Rocks in the eastern part of Holme Bay, Mac. Robertson Land. They were plotted from photos taken from Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions aircraft in 1958, and named by the Antarctic Names Committee of Australia after Canopus Island.
Lake Canopus is a small lake 65 metres (210 ft) above the southern shore of Lake Vanda in Wright Valley, Victoria Land. It was named by the Eighth Victoria University of Wellington Antarctic Expedition, 1963–64, after Canopus, pilot of Menelaus, the king of Sparta.
Mount Canopus is a prominent ice-free peak, 1,710 metres (5,610 ft) high, surmounting the western edge of the Nash Range, 4.5 nautical miles (8 km) east of Centaur Bluff. It was named by the New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition (1960–61) after the bright star Canopus, used for survey fixes.
Deadmond Glacier is a glacier about 6 nautical miles (11 km) long, flowing from the east side of Evans Peninsula on Thurston Island into Cadwalader Inlet. It was discovered by the U.S. Navy Bellingshausen Sea Expedition in February 1960, and was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Lieutenant Commander Robert B. Deadmond, executive officer of USS Burton Island, forming part of this expedition.
The Hansen Rocks are a group of five small islands lying just north of Holme Bay and the coast of Mac. Robertson Land, Antarctica, about 2 kilometres (1 nmi) northeast of the Sawert Rocks and Nella Rock, and about 2 kilometres (1 nmi) northwest of the Canopus Rocks. They were plotted from Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) air photographs, and were named by the Antarctic Names Committee of Australia for Captain B.T. Hansen, master of the Nella Dan for ANARE relief voyages in 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1972.
Smith Rocks is a group of rocks lying 1 kilometre (0.5 nmi) northeast of Canopus Islands, 1 kilometre (0.5 nmi) west of Kitney Island, 3.7 kilometres (2 nmi) southwest of Wiltshire Rocks, and 5.6 kilometres (3 nmi) northwest of Paterson Islands, in the east part of Holme Bay, Mac. Robertson Land. Mapped by Norwegian cartographers from air photos taken by the Lars Christensen Expedition, 1936–37, and named Spjotoyholmane. Renamed by Antarctic Names Committee of Australia (ANCA) for Captain V. Smith, RAASC, DUKW driver who took part in ANARE changeover operations at Davis and Mawson stations in 1958-59 and 1959-60.
