Williams Rocks

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Williams Rocks
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Williams Rocks
Location in Antarctica
Geography
Location Antarctica
Coordinates 67°26′S62°46′E / 67.433°S 62.767°E / -67.433; 62.767 (Williams Rocks) Coordinates: 67°26′S62°46′E / 67.433°S 62.767°E / -67.433; 62.767 (Williams Rocks)
Administration
Administered under the Antarctic Treaty System
Demographics
PopulationUninhabited

The Williams Rocks are a group of islands, being essentially rocks located 17 km (9 nmi) north of Flat Islands and Holme Bay, off the coast of Mac. Robertson Land. The Williams Rocks were mapped by Robert G. Dovers of the ANARE in 1954. The Williams Rocks were named by the ANCA for J. Williams, assistant diesel mechanic at Mawson Station in 1962, who assisted in a triangulation of the Williams Rocks and the erection of a beacon. [1]

Rock (geology) A naturally occurring solid aggregate of one or more minerals or mineraloids

A rock is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition and the way in which it is formed. Rocks are usually grouped into three main groups: igneous rocks, metamorphic rocks and sedimentary rocks. Rocks form the Earth's outer solid layer, the crust.

Flat Islands (Antarctica)

The Flat Islands or Flatøyholmane are a small chain of islands which extends 5 km (2.5 nmi) in a northeast-southwest direction, lying about 3 km (1.9 mi) north-west of Mawson Station and 3.7 km (2 nmi) southwest of Welch Island in the eastern part of Holme Bay. The Flat Islands were mapped by Norwegian cartographers from air photos taken by the Lars Christensen Expedition (1936-1937) and the name Flatøyholmane was applied to the group at the south end of the chain. The island mapped as Flatøy on the Norwegian map is actually three islands. Following surveys by the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE), the Antarctic Names Committee of Australia (ANCA) recommended in 1958 that the descriptive name Flat Islands be applied for the entire group. The group is made up of Stinear Island and Béchervaise Island, amongst others.

Holme Bay is a bay in Antarctica in Mac. Robertson Land, 22 miles (35 km) wide, containing many islands, indenting the coast 5 miles (8 km) north of the Framnes Mountains. Holme Bay is largely snow-free and was mapped by Norwegian cartographers from aerial photographs taken by the Lars Christensen Expedition in January-February 1937, and named Holmevika because of its island-studded character.

Contents

See also

Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research organization

The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is an interdisciplinary body of the International Council for Science (ICSU).

Territorial claims in Antarctica Wikimedia list article

There are seven sovereign states who currently maintain de jure, largely symbolic territorial claims in Antarctica: Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom. These countries have tended to place their Antarctic scientific observation and study facilities within their respective claimed territories; however, a number of such facilities are located nowhere near the sectors claimed by their respective countries of operation, and there are multiple other countries such as Russia and the United States who, despite having no territorial claim of their own anywhere in Antarctica, have constructed large research facilities within the sectors claimed by other countries.

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Nelson Rock

Nelson Rock is an uninhabited solitary island, being essentially a dark rock which is partly ice-covered and lies 5.6 km (3 nmi) north of Williams Rocks, off the coast of Mac Robertson Land in Holme Bay. The Rock was mapped by Robert G. Dovers of the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) in 1954. Nelson Rock was named by the Antarctic Names Committee of Australia (ANCA) for Robert Edward Kelvin Nelson, a weather observer at Mawson Station in 1962, who assisted with the triangulation of Nelson Rock and the erection of a beacon.

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Gourdin Island

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Hauken Rock

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Henkes Islands

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References

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