The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of 3,687 km2 (1,424 sq mi). They lie about 120 kilometres north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between 430 and 900 km southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for non-military purposes.
The Fildes Peninsula is a 7 km (4.3 mi) long peninsula that forms the south-western end of King George Island in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It was named from association with nearby Fildes Strait by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee in 1960; the strait was likely named for Robert Fildes, a British sealer of the 1800s.
The British Graham Land expedition (BGLE) was a geophysical and exploration expedition to Graham Land in Antarctica between 1934 and 1937. Under the leadership of John Rymill, the expedition spent two years in the Antarctic. The expedition determined that Graham Land was a peninsula. The expedition used a combination of traditional and modern practices in Antarctic exploration, using both dog teams and motor sledges as well as a single-engine de Havilland Fox Moth aircraft for exploration. Transportation to the Antarctic was in an elderly three-masted sailing ship christened the Penola, which had an unreliable auxiliary engine. Additional supplies were brought on the ship Discovery II.
Martin Glacier is a glacier, 3 nautical miles (6 km) wide and 9 nautical miles (17 km) long, which flows west and then northwest from the south side of Mount Lupa to the southeast corner of Rymill Bay where it joins Bertrand Ice Piedmont, on the west coast of Graham Land, Antarctica. It was first surveyed in 1936 by the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE) under John Riddoch Rymill, and was resurveyed in 1948–1949 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey. The glacier was named for James Hamilton Martin, a member of the British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (1929–1931) under Sir Douglas Mawson, and first mate of the Penola during the BGLE.
James William Slessor Marr was a Scottish marine biologist and polar explorer. He was leader of the World War 2 British Antarctic Expedition Operation Tabarin during its first year, 1943–1945.
John Riddoch Rymill was an Australian polar explorer, who had the rare second clasp added to his Polar Medal.
Ajax Icefall' is an icefall between Stenhouse Bluff and Ullmann Spur at the head of Visca Anchorage, King George Island, in the South Shetland Islands. Charted by the French Antarctic Expedition under Jean-Baptiste Charcot in 1908–10. Named by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee in 1960 for HMS Ajax, which assisted in the search for a boat crew from the Discovery II, missing on King George Island in January 1937.
Prospect Point is a headland at the west extremity of Velingrad Peninsula on Graham Coast in Graham Land, four kilometres 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.
Ardley Island is an island 1.9 kilometres (1 nmi) long, lying in Maxwell Bay close off the south-west end of King George Island, in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It was charted as a peninsula in 1935 by Discovery Investigations personnel of the Discovery II and named for Lieutenant R.A.B. Ardley, Royal Naval Reserve, an officer on the ship in 1929–31 and 1931–33. Aerial photography has since shown that the feature is an island with Braillard Point being the headland forming the northeast end of Ardley Island. It has been designated an Antarctic Specially Protected Area because of the importance of its seabird colonies.
Owen Island in the Antarctic is a small (19 ha), circular, ice-free island lying between Round Point and Pottinger Point about 500 m off the north coast of King George Island, in the South Shetland Islands. It was charted and named in 1935 by DI personnel on the Discovery II.
Turret Point is a point marked by conspicuous high rock stacks, forming the east limit of King George Bay on the south coast of King George Island, in the South Shetland Islands. The point was charted in 1937 by DI personnel on the Discovery II who gave the name Turret Rocks, but this has led to confusion with a group of rocks lying close offshore. The United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC) recommended in 1960 that since the feature originally named is a land feature, the term point be used to avoid confusion and ambiguity.
Growler Rock is a rock 1 nautical mile (2 km) northwest of Lions Rump in the western part of King George Bay, King George Island, in the South Shetland Islands. It was charted and named during 1937 by Discovery Investigations personnel on the Discovery II. The term "growler" is used to denote small pieces of ice barely showing above water.
Emm Rock is a conspicuous rock 30 metres (100 ft) high, lying 0.5 nautical miles (1 km) off the south coast of King George Island at the east side of the entrance to Potter Cove, in the South Shetland Islands. This rock, presumably known to early sealers in the area, was sketched by the French Antarctic Expedition, 1908–10, under Jean-Baptiste Charcot, and charted by Discovery Investigations personnel on the Discovery II in 1935. The name derives from the shape of the rock, which resembles the letter M.
Low Rock is a low rock surrounded by foul ground, lying 2 kilometres (1 nmi) southwest of Stranger Point, the southern extremity of King George Island, in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. An unnamed rock in essentially this position appears on a chart by David Ferguson, a Scottish geologist aboard the whaler Hanka, in these waters in 1913–14. Low Rock was more accurately charted by Discovery Investigations personnel on the Discovery II in 1935 and 1937.
Low Head is a headland 1 nautical mile (2 km) south-southwest of Lions Rump, the west side of the entrance to King George Bay, on King George Island, in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. It was charted and given this descriptive name during 1937 by Discovery Investigations personnel on the Discovery II. Chopin Ridge runs between Lions Rump and Low Head.
Lions Rump is a conspicuous headland 2 km (1.2 mi) north-northeast of Low Head, forming the west side of the entrance to King George Bay, on King George Island, in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It was charted and given its descriptive name in 1937 by Discovery Investigations personnel on the Discovery II. Chopin Ridge runs between Lions Rump and Low Head. The rock feature known as "Martello Tower" lies 4 km (2.5 mi) to the north-northwest.
Sinbad Rock is a low rock lying 1.25 nautical miles (2.3 km) west-northwest of Square End Island, off the west end of King George Island, in the South Shetland Islands. The rock was charted in 1935 by DI personnel on the Discovery II but the name appears to be first used on a 1948 Admiralty chart based upon this survey.
Hole Rock is the largest of several rocks lying close north of North Foreland, the northeast cape of King George Island, in the South Shetland Islands. It was charted in 1937 by Discovery Investigations personnel on the Discovery II and so named because a conspicuous hole extends through it.
RRS Discovery II was a British Royal Research Ship which, during her operational lifetime of about 30 years, carried out considerable hydrographical and marine biological survey work in Antarctic waters and the Southern Ocean in the course of the Discovery Investigations research program. Built in Port Glasgow, launched in 1928 and completed in 1929, she was the first purpose-built oceanographic research vessel and was named after Robert Falcon Scott's 1901 ship, RRS Discovery.
The Penola, originally laid down in Finisterre, Brittany, was a fishing schooner named Alcyon, and was later acquired by John Rymill for the British Graham Land Expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula in 1934.
