Capstan Rocks

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The Capstan Rocks ( 64°57′S63°26′W / 64.950°S 63.433°W / -64.950; -63.433 Coordinates: 64°57′S63°26′W / 64.950°S 63.433°W / -64.950; -63.433 ) are a small group of rocks, sometimes awash at high water and in strong winds, lying 1 nautical mile (2 km) south of Bob Island in the south entrance to Gerlache Strait, off the west coast of Graham Land. They were shown on an Argentine government chart of 1950, but not named. They were surveyed by the British Naval Hydrographic Survey Unit, 1956–57, and given this descriptive name by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee, because of a supposed resemblance to a capstan. [1]

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.

Bob Island is a rocky island 1 nautical mile (2 km) long and 145 metres (480 ft) high, lying 4 nautical miles (7 km) southeast of Cape Errera, on Wiencke Island in the Palmer Archipelago. An island in this vicinity was surveyed and photographed by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition (BelgAE) under Gerlache in 1898. It was originally called "Ile Famine", but in the reports resulting from the expedition it was renamed "Ile Bob". In a survey of the area in 1955, the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS) made a landing on this island. Although it differs somewhat in size and position from the BelgAE reports, the FIDS found it closely resembles the BelgAE photograph and consider it to be the island originally named.

Gerlache Strait Strait in the Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica

Gerlache Strait or de Gerlache Strait or Détroit de la Belgica is a channel/strait separating the Palmer Archipelago from the Antarctic Peninsula. The Belgian Antarctic Expedition, under Lt. Adrien de Gerlache, explored the strait in January and February 1898, naming it for the expedition ship Belgica. The name was later changed to honor the commander himself.

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Lemaire Island

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References

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates  public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "Capstan Rocks" (content from the Geographic Names Information System ).

United States Geological Survey scientific agency of the United States government

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, geography, geology, and hydrology. The USGS is a fact-finding research organization with no regulatory responsibility.

Geographic Names Information System geographical database

The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database that contains name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features located throughout the United States of America and its territories. It is a type of gazetteer. GNIS was developed by the United States Geological Survey in cooperation with the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) to promote the standardization of feature names.