The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica, between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land and within the Ross Embayment, and is the southernmost sea on Earth. It derives its name from the British explorer James Ross who visited this area in 1841. To the west of the sea lies Ross Island and Victoria Land, to the east Roosevelt Island and Edward VII Peninsula in Marie Byrd Land, while the southernmost part is covered by the Ross Ice Shelf, and is about 200 miles (320 km) from the South Pole. Its boundaries and area have been defined by the New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research as having an area of 637,000 square kilometres (246,000 sq mi).
Thurston Island is an ice-covered, glacially dissected island, 215 km (134 mi) long, 90 km (56 mi) wide and 15,700 km2 (6,062 sq mi) in area, lying a short way off the northwest end of Ellsworth Land, Antarctica. It is the third largest island of Antarctica, after Alexander Island and Berkner Island.
Berkner Island is an Antarctic ice rise, where bedrock below sea level has caused the surrounding ice sheet to create a dome. If the ice cap were removed, the island would be under water. Berkner Island is completely ice-covered and is about 320 kilometres (200 mi) long and 150 kilometres (93 mi) wide, with an area of 44,000 km2 (17,000 sq mi). It is surrounded by the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf. The northernmost point of the Berkner is about 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the open sea. It lies in the overlapping portion of the Argentine and the British Antarctic territorial claims.
The Possession Islands are a group of small islands and rocks extending over an area of about 7 miles (11 km), lying in the western part of the Ross Sea, lying 8 kilometres (5 mi) south-east of Cape McCormick and 17 kilometres (11 mi) east of Cape Roget, in Victoria Land, Antarctica. The Possession Islands were named by Captain James Clark Ross, Royal Navy, in commemoration of the planting of the British flag here on January 12, 1841.
The Larsen Islands are a small group of islands north-west of Moreton Point, the western extremity of Coronation Island, in the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica. They were discovered by Captains George Powell and Nathaniel Palmer on the occasion of their joint cruise in December 1821. The islands were named on Petter Sørlle's chart, based upon his survey of the South Orkney Islands in 1912–1913, in honour of Carl Anton Larsen.
The Seal Islands are a group of small islands and rocky islets lying about 7 km north and north-west of Elephant Island, in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. They extend east–west for about 5 km, and are separated from Elephant Island by Sealers Passage. The group takes its name from the largest island, which Captain William Smith named Seal Island in 1820 because of the number of seals killed there.
The Dailey Islands are a group of small volcanic islands lying off the coast of Victoria Land, 9 kilometres (5 nmi) northeast of Cape Chocolate, in the northern part of the ice shelf bordering McMurdo Sound. They were discovered by the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04, under Robert Falcon Scott, and named for Fred E. Dailey, the expedition carpenter.
Beall Island is a rocky island with small coves indenting the eastern and western sides, lying 600 m (660 yd) south-west of the Bailey Peninsula, in the Windmill Islands on the Budd Coast of Antarctica. There are several small lakes on the island. It was first mapped from aerial photos taken by the USN's Operation Highjump and Operation Windmill in 1947 and 1948. It was named by the US-ACAN for James M. Beall, U.S. Weather Bureau observer with Operation Windmill who assisted staff aerology officers with forecasting duties. The Beall Reefs are submarine ridges with depths of less than 1.8 metres, located 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) west of the island; they were discovered at the establishment of Wilkes Station in 1961 and named by ANCA after the island. Connors Point is the north-western point of the island; it was named by the US-ACAN for Aerographer's Mate William J. Connors, USN, a member of the Wilkes Station party of 1958.
Inexpressible Island is a small, rocky island in Terra Nova Bay, Victoria Land, Antarctica.
Maher Island is a small horseshoe-shaped island lying 10 km (6.2 mi) north of the north-western end of Siple Island, off the coast of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. It is one of three considered closest to the Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility, also known as 'Point Nemo'. It has numerous areas of exposed rock and is mostly ice-free in summer.
The Curzon Islands are a small group of rocky islands lying close off Cape Découverte, Adélie Coast. They were probably sighted in January 1840 by a French expedition under Captain Jules Dumont d'Urville, though not identified as islands on d'Urville's maps. The islands were roughly charted in 1912 by Captain J.K. Davis of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition ship Aurora and named by Mawson for Lord Curzon, the President of the Royal Geographical Society, 1911–14. The islands were mapped in detail by the French Antarctic Expedition, 1950–52.
The Ginger Islands are a group of islands lying west of Cape Alexandra, off the southern end of Adelaide Island, Antarctica. The largest of the islands appears reddish when free of snow. They were surveyed by the Royal Navy's hydrographic survey unit in 1962-63 and named by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC) for Kenneth Ginger, Civil Hydrographic Officer responsible for British Admiralty charts of the Antarctic for several years beginning in 1958.
The Rookery Islands are a group of rocks and small islands in western Holme Bay, north of the David and Masson Ranges, on the Mawson Coast of Mac.Robertson Land in East Antarctica. The largest in the group are Giganteus Island in the north-west, 600 m long by 400 m wide, and Rookery Island in the south, 1 km long and 250 m wide. The islands are rocky and of low relief, rising to heights of 60 m on Rookery Island, 25 m on Giganteus Island, and ranging from 10 – 30 m on the smaller islands. The nearest permanent research station is Australia's Mawson, some 15 km to the east in Holme Bay.
The Edwards Islands are a group of about 20 small islands, mostly ice free in summer, lying off the south-western tip of the Canisteo Peninsula, which projects into the eastern Amundsen Sea between Cranton and Ferrero Bays, on the Walgreen Coast of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. They were plotted from air photos taken by U.S. Navy Squadron VX-6 in January 1960, and were named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Z T Edwards, chief quartermaster on the USS Glacier during the U.S. Navy Bellingshausen Sea Expedition to this area in February 1960.
Filla Island is a rocky island about 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) long, located in the northern part of the Rauer Islands and being the largest island in the group. It was charted by Norwegian cartographers from air photos taken by the Lars Christensen Expedition (1936–37). They gave the name Filla to a larger island here, presumably for the ragged outline of the feature as shown on the Norwegian chart. In 1952, John Roscoe made a study of this area as revealed in aerial photographs taken by U.S. Navy Operation Highjump (1946–47). He found that what the Norwegians had named Filla was in fact a cluster of small islands. He applied the name Filla Island to the largest of these as described.
The Mackellar Islands, also MacKellar Islets, are a group of about 30 small islands and rocks lying 3 kilometres (1.5 nmi) north of Cape Denison in the center of Commonwealth Bay, George V Land, Antarctica. They were discovered by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (1911–14) under Douglas Mawson, who named them for C.D. Mackellar of London, a patron of the expedition. The largest is Greater Mackellar Island.
The Schaefer Islands are a small group of islands lying close to the north-western end of the Canisteo Peninsula and 4 km (2.5 mi) south-west of the Lindsey Islands. They were mapped from aerial photos taken by the USN's Operation Highjump in December 1946. They were named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) for William A. Schaefer, a geologist on the Ellsworth Land Survey, 1968–69.
Thurston Glacier is a glacier about 28 km (17 mi) long which drains the south-eastern slopes of Mount Siple on Siple Island. The glacier trends eastward and then east-north-eastward to reach the northern shore of the island. It was mapped by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) from surveys and United States Navy aerial photography, 1959–65.
The Rosenthal Islands are a group of about islands fringing the west coast of Anvers Island, 11 km (6.8 mi) north of Cape Monaco, in the Palmer Archipelago of Antarctica.
The Ryder Bay Islands Important Bird Area is a 520 ha designated site on the south-east coast of Adelaide Island, Antarctica. It has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant numbers of breeding seabirds, notably south polar skuas. The site encompasses the Léonie Islands lying at the mouth of Ryder Bay, as well as Rothera Point, the eastern headland of the bay.
