Damocles Point

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Damocles Point ( 69°39′S69°21′W / 69.650°S 69.350°W / -69.650; -69.350 Coordinates: 69°39′S69°21′W / 69.650°S 69.350°W / -69.650; -69.350 ) is a headland on the east coast of Alexander Island, 3 nautical miles (6 km) east-southeast of the south summit of Mount Tyrrell. A small rock exposure near sea level is surmounted by a 60 metres (200 ft) ice cliff. The headland is adjacent to George VI Sound and is facing towards the Rymill Coast in Palmer Land. It was first photographed from the air in 1937 by the British Graham Land Expedition under Rymill. It was surveyed in 1948 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, and so named by them because the ice cliff overhanging the spot where geological specimens were collected seemed like the sword of Damocles. [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.

Alexander Island island in the Bellingshausen Sea off Antarctica

Alexander Island, which is also known as Alexander I Island, Alexander I Land, Alexander Land, Alexander I Archipelago, and Zemlja Alexandra I, is the largest island of Antarctica. It lies in the Bellingshausen Sea west of Palmer Land, Antarctic Peninsula from which it is separated by Marguerite Bay and George VI Sound. George VI Ice Shelf entirely fills George VI Sound and connects Alexander Island to Palmer Land. The island partly surrounds Wilkins Sound, which lies to its west. Alexander Island is about 390 kilometres (240 mi) long in a north-south direction, 80 kilometres (50 mi) wide in the north, and 240 kilometres (150 mi) wide in the south. Alexander Island is the second largest uninhabited island in the world, after Devon Island.

Mount Tyrrell is an irregular mountain with two summits, the highest rising to a maximum height of 1,310 metres (4,300 ft), standing 3 nautical miles (6 km) inland from the east coast of Alexander Island, Antarctica, situated on the east side and near the mouth of Toynbee Glacier. The mountain was first photographed from the air in 1937 by the British Graham Land Expedition under Rymill. The mountain was surveyed in 1948 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey and was named by them for George W. Tyrrell, British geologist at the University of Glasgow, Scotland.

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Lützow-Holm Bay bay

Lützow-Holm Bay is a large bay, about 220 kilometres (120 nmi) wide, indenting the coast of Queen Maud Land in Antarctica between Riiser-Larsen Peninsula and the coastal angle immediately east of the Flatvaer Islands. It was discovered by Captain Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen in two airplane flights from his expedition vessel, the Norvegia, on February 21 and 23, 1931. The name honours Commander Finn Lützow-Holm of the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service, a pilot for Captain Riiser-Larsen on the Aagaard in 1935.

Upper Island is a narrow island at the north side of Mutton Cove, lying between Cliff and Harp Islands and 13 km west of Prospect Point, off the west coast of Graham Land. It was charted and named by the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE), 1934–37, under John Rymill.

Prospect Point (Antarctica) headland

Prospect Point is a headland at the west extremity of Velingrad Peninsula on Graham Coast in Graham Land, nearly 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) south of Ferin Head and immediately east of the Fish Islands. Roughly charted by the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE) under Rymill, 1934-37. Photographed by Hunting Aerosurveys Ltd. in 1956-57. The name was suggested in 1957 by E. P. Arrowsmith, Governor of the Falkland Islands.

Birley Glacier glacier in Antarctica

Birley Glacier is a glacier, at least 10 nautical miles (19 km) long, flowing west into the eastern extremity of Barilari Bay north of Vardun Point, on the west coast of Graham Land. First seen and roughly surveyed in 1909 by the French Antarctic Expedition under Jean-Baptiste Charcot, it was re-surveyed in 1935–36 by the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE) under John Rymill, and later named for Kenneth P. Birley, who contributed toward the cost of the BGLE, 1934–37.

The Brindle Cliffs are a precipitous mass of ice-free rock rising to 610 metres (2,000 ft), standing 6 nautical miles (11 km) east of Cape Jeremy on the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. The feature was first seen from the air and photographed on August 16, 1936 by the British Graham Land Expedition under Rymill, and surveyed in 1948 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey who so named it because of its brindle color.

Cape Brown is a prominent ice-covered cape 5.5 nautical miles (10 km) north-northeast of the summit of Mount Nicholas, marking the eastern side of the entrance to Schokalsky Bay on the northeast coast of Alexander Island in Antarctica. It was first seen from a distance by the French Antarctic Expedition under Jean-Baptiste Charcot in 1909, but charted as part of a small island. It was photographed from the air in 1937 by the British Graham Land Expedition under John Rymill, and later roughly mapped from the photos. It was surveyed from the ground in 1948 by Colin C. Brown, Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey surveyor at Stonington Island, 1948–49, for whom the cape is named.

Café Point is a headland lying 2 nautical miles (4 km) south of Zapato Point and 2 nautical miles east of Nansen Island on the west coast of Graham Land. It was charted by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition under Gerlache 1897–99. The name appears on an Argentine government chart of 1954.

Cliff Island is a narrow cliffed island at the south side of Mutton Cove, lying immediately south of Upper Island and 8 nautical miles (15 km) west of Prospect Point, off the west coast of Graham Land, Antarctica. It was charted and named by the British Graham Land Expedition under John Rymill, 1934–37.

Cole Point is a headland at the south end of Dean Island, which lies within the Getz Ice Shelf just off the coast of Marie Byrd Land. It was mapped by the United States Geological Survey from surveys and from U.S. Navy air photos, 1959–65, and named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Lawrence M. Cole, U.S. Navy, a builder at Byrd Station, 1969.

Mount Courtauld is a rounded, mainly ice-covered mountain, 2,105 metres (6,900 ft) high, standing 9 nautical miles (17 km) east of George VI Sound and the rocky ridge marking the north side of the mouth of Naess Glacier, on the west coast of Palmer Land. It was first surveyed in 1936 by the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE) under John Rymill, and named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee in 1954 for Augustine Courtauld, a British Arctic explorer who was of assistance during the organization of the BGLE, 1934–37.

Crescent Scarp is a conspicuous, north-facing escarpment of rock and ice cliffs, rising to 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) on the south side of Fleming Glacier in northern Palmer Land. It was roughly surveyed from the ground by the British Graham Land Expedition in 1936-37, and photographed from the air by the United States Antarctic Service in 1940 and the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition in 1947. It was resurveyed by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in 1958, and named descriptively.

Mutton Cove, Biscoe Islands cove

Mutton Cove is an anchorage 0.5 nautical miles (0.9 km) northeast of the south end of Beer Island in the Biscoe Islands. The cove is formed by four small islands, Harp, Upper, Cliff and Girdler Islands. Beer Island shelters the cove from the west. Charted in 1936 by the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE) under Rymill and, at the suggestion of Lieutenant R.G.D. Ryder, Royal Navy, captain of the days in a training ship at Devonport.

Tumble Glacier is a glacier extending along the east side of Alexander Island, Antarctica, 7 nautical miles (13 km) long and 3 nautical miles (6 km) wide, which flows east from the cliffs of Mount Egbert, Mount Ethelwulf and Mount Ethelred of the Douglas Range into the west side of the George VI Ice Shelf that occupies George VI Sound immediately south of Mount King. The glacier was first roughly surveyed in 1936 by the British Graham Land Expedition under Rymill. Resurveyed in 1948 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, and so named by them because of the extremely broken condition of the lower reaches of the glacier.

Hodges Point is a rocky point terminating in an impressive black cliff, lying 6 nautical miles (11 km) east-northeast of Cape Northrop on the east coast of Graham Land, Antarctica. Twin summits on the point rise to 940 and 960 metres. The feature was photographed by the United States Antarctic Service, 1939–41. It was mapped by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey 1947–48, and named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee for Ben Hodges, General Assistant with the British Antarctic Survey Larsen Ice Shelf party, 1963–64.

Cape Hinks

Cape Hinks is a bold headland on the south side of the entrance to Bertius Inlet, and surmounted by a high ice-covered dome, marking the northern extremity of the Finley Heights on the east coast of Palmer Land, Antarctica. It was discovered and photographed by Sir Hubert Wilkins on his flight of December 20, 1928. It was later photographed from the air by Lincoln Ellsworth in 1935, and by the United States Antarctic Service (USAS) in 1940. The cape was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Arthur R. Hinks, Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society, 1915–45, who undertook in his published studies to reconcile the explorations of Wilkins, Ellsworth, John Rymill and the USAS in this general area.

Cape Rymill is a steep, metamorphic rock cliff standing opposite the central part of Hearst Island and jutting out from the icecap along the east coast of Palmer Land. Named for John Rymill by members of the East Base of the United States Antarctic Service (USAS) who charted this coast by land and from the air in 1940. Rymill was the leader of the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE), and in 1936 sledged eastward across Antarctic Peninsula to 6945S, 6328W.

Refuge Islands is a small group of islands lying 1 nautical mile (1.9 km) from the ice cliffs at the southwest side of Red Rock Ridge, off the west coast of Graham Land. Discovered and named by the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE) under Rymill, 1934–37, who used these islands as a depot for sledge journeys south from the southern base in the Debenham Islands.

Cape Reichelderfer is a rounded, mainly ice-covered headland 4 nautical miles (7 km) east of DeBusk Scarp, lying at the west side of Stefansson Strait on the east coast of Palmer Land. This cape was seen by Sir Hubert Wilkins who explored this coast on his aerial flight of December 20, 1928. It was charted in 1940 by the United States Antarctic Service (USAS) and erroneously called Cape Rymill at that time. Resighted in 1947 by the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition (RARE) under Ronne who named it for Francis W. Reichelderfer, Chief of the U.S. Weather Bureau.

Riddle Islands is a small group of islands lying off the southwest end of Chavez Island, off the west coast of Graham Land. First charted by the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE) under Rymill, 1934-37. The name arose locally in August 1957 because these islands were difficult to find among the icebergs frozen in the surrounding sea ice.

LeFeuvre Scarp is an irregular cliff-like elevation, 750 metres (2,460 ft) high, situated 11 nautical miles (20 km) west of Cape Reichelderfer on the east side of Palmer Land, Antarctica. It marks the north side of the divide between Bingham Glacier and a smaller unnamed glacier next northward. The feature was photographed from the air by Lincoln Ellsworth in 1935, the United States Antarctic Service in 1940, and the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition in 1947, and was surveyed by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in 1947. It was named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee in 1962 after Charles F. LeFeuvre, a radio operator at Brunt Ice Shelf in 1956, Signy Island in 1959, and Horseshoe Island and Stonington Island in 1960.

References

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates  public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "Damocles Point" (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.