Eklund Islands

Last updated October 04, 2024

The Eklund Islands ( 73°16′S71°50′W / 73.267°S 71.833°W / -73.267; -71.833 ) are a group of islands which rise through the ice near the southwest end of George VI Sound towards the south of the Antarctic Peninsula.

The largest island, 5 nautical miles (9 km) in extent and rising to 410 metres (1,350 ft), was discovered in December 1940 by Finn Ronne and Carl R. Eklund of the United States Antarctic Service during their 1,097-mile (1,765 km) sledge journey south from Stonington Island to the southwest part of George VI Sound and return. At that time this large island, named by Ronne for Eklund, the ornithologist and assistant biologist of the expedition, was the only land protruding above an area of hummocky ice. V. E. Fuchs and R. J. Adie of the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey sledged to the southwest part of George VI Sound in 1949, at which time, because of a recession of the ice in the sound, they were able to determine that the island discovered by Ronne and Eklund is the largest of a group of mainly ice-covered islands. On the basis of the original discovery, the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names recommends that the name Eklund be applied to the island group rather than the single island discovered by Ronne and Eklund.^[1]

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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. The 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.

The Behrendt Mountains is a group of mountains, 20 nautical miles long, aligned in the form of a horseshoe with the opening to the southwest, standing 7 nautical miles southwest of the Merrick Mountains in Ellsworth Land, Antarctica.

The Beethoven Peninsula is a deeply indented, ice-covered peninsula, 60 miles (100 km) long in a northeast–southwest direction and 60 miles (100 km) wide at its broadest part, forming the southwest part of Alexander Island, which lies off the southwestern portion of the Antarctic Peninsula. The south side of the peninsula is supported by the Bach Ice Shelf whilst the north side of the peninsula is supported by the Wilkins Ice Shelf. The Mendelssohn Inlet, the Brahms Inlet and the Verdi Inlet apparently intrude into it. The Bach Ice Shelf, Rossini Point and Berlioz Point are some distance away, on the Ronne Entrance from the Southern Ocean. Beethoven Peninsula is one of the eight peninsulas of Alexander Island.

Gardner Inlet is a large, ice-filled inlet at the southwest side of Bowman Peninsula, on the east coast of Palmer Land, Antarctica.

Kemp Peninsula is an irregular ice-covered peninsula 26 nautical miles long in a north–south direction and 5 to 12 nautical miles wide. The peninsula rises gently to 305 metres (1,001 ft) and projects east between the heads of Mason Inlet and Mossman Inlet, on the east coast of Palmer Land, Antarctica.

English Coast is a portion of the coast of Antarctica between the northern tip of Rydberg Peninsula and the Buttress Nunataks, on the west side of Palmer Land. To the west is Bryan Coast, and northward runs Rymill Coast east of Alexander Island across George VI Sound. This coast was discovered and explored in 1940, on land by Finn Ronne and Carl R. Eklund and from the air by other members of the East Base of the US Antarctic Service (USAS), 1939–41. It was originally named "Robert English Coast" after Capt. Robert A.J. English, US Navy, Executive Secretary of USAS, 1939–41, and formerly Captain of the Bear of Oakland on the Byrd Antarctic Expedition, 1933–35. The name is shortened for the sake of brevity.

The George VI Ice Shelf is an extensive ice shelf that occupies George VI Sound which separates Alexander Island from Palmer Land in Antarctica. The ice shelf extends from Ronne Entrance, at the southwest end of the sound, to Niznik Island, about 30 nautical miles (56 km) south of the north entrance between Cape Brown and Cape Jeremy. It was named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee in association with George VI Sound.

Bryan Coast is that portion of the coast of Antarctica along the south shore of the Bellingshausen Sea between Pfrogner Point and the northern tip of the Rydberg Peninsula. To the west is Eights Coast, and to the east is English Coast.

Casey Inlet is an ice-filled inlet at the terminus of Casey Glacier, between Miller Point and Cape Walcott, on the east coast of Palmer Land, Antarctica.

Neptune Glacier is a glacier on the east coast of Alexander Island, Antarctica, 12 nautical miles (22 km) long and 4 nautical miles (7 km) wide, flowing east into George VI Sound and the George VI Ice Shelf to the south of Triton Point. Although Neptune Glacier is not located within the mountain range Planet Heights, the glaciers name derives from the mountain range along with many other nearby glaciers named after planets of the Solar System. There are also other nearby landforms named in association with these glaciers. The glacier was first sighted from the air by Lincoln Ellsworth on November 23, 1935, and roughly mapped from photos obtained on that flight by W.L.G. Joerg. The mouth of the glacier was positioned in 1936 by the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE). Named by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC) for the planet Neptune following a Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS) survey in 1949. The head of the glacier was mapped from air photos taken by the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition (RARE), 1947–48, by Searle of the FIDS in 1960.

The Werner Mountains are a group of mountains located just west-southwest of New Bedford Inlet and between the Meinardus Glacier and Bryan Glacier, in Palmer Land, Antarctica.

Violante Inlet is an ice-filled inlet 16 nautical miles long, in an east–west direction, and 12 to 15 nautical miles wide, lying between Cape Fanning and Cape Herdman along the east coast of Palmer Land, Antarctica.

The Goodenough Glacier is a broad sweeping glacier to the south of the Batterbee Mountains, flowing from the west shore of Palmer Land, Antarctica, into George VI Sound and the George VI Ice Shelf.

Hughes Ice Piedmont is the ice piedmont between Cordini Glacier and Smith Inlet on the east coast of Palmer Land, Antarctica.

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The Hutton Mountains are a group of mountains in southeast Palmer Land, Antarctica, bounded on the southwest by Johnston Glacier, on the northwest by Squires Glacier, on the north by Swann Glacier, and on the east by Keller Inlet.

Stephenson Nunatak is a prominent, pyramid-shaped rock nunatak, rising to about 640 m, which rises 300 m above the surrounding ice at the northwest side of Kirwan Inlet in the southeast part of Alexander Island, Antarctica. Discovered and roughly surveyed in 1940-41 by Finn Ronne and Carl R. Eklund of the United States Antarctic Service. Resurveyed in 1949 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey and named by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee for Alfred Stephenson, surveyor with the British Graham Land Expedition, who led a sledge party south into George VI Sound to about 72S in 1936. There happens to be another landform on Alexander Island which is named after Alfred Stephenson, that being Mount Stephenson, the highest point of Alexander Island rising to 2,987 m.

Stange Sound is a sound about 60 nautical miles long and 25 nautical miles wide along the coast of Ellsworth Land, Antarctica. An ice shelf occupies the sound, which is bounded on the west by Smyley Island and Case Island, on the south by the mainland, on the east by Spaatz Island and on the north by open water in the Ronne Entrance. Photographed from the air and roughly plotted by the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition under Finn Ronne. Named for Henry Stange of New York, a contributor to RARE who gave much time to assisting in preparations for the expedition.

Tethys Nunataks is a minor group of about five snow-free nunataks, lying 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) northeast of Stephenson Nunatak in the southeast corner of Alexander Island, Antarctica. Presumably first seen by Finn Ronne and Carl R. Eklund of the United States Antarctic Service who sledged through George VI Sound in 1940–41. Surveyed in 1949 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey and named by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee for association with nearby Saturn Glacier, Tethys being one of the satellites of the planet Saturn, the sixth planet of the Solar System.

The Lyon Nunataks are a group of nunataks lying west of the Grossman Nunataks and 30 nautical miles northwest of the Behrendt Mountains, in Ellsworth Land, Antarctica. They include Grossenbacher Nunatak, Holtet Nunatak, Christoph Nunatak and Isakson Nunatak.

References

↑ "Eklund Islands". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved 27 February 2012.

This article incorporates public domain material from "Eklund Islands". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey.

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[gnis-1] "Eklund Islands". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved 27 February 2012.

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