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Atka Iceport, also known as Atka Bay, is an
iceport An iceport is a more-or-less permanent indentation in the front of an ice shelf, that can serve as a natural ice harbour. Though useful, they are not always reliable, as calving of surrounding ice shelves can render an iceport temporarily unstable ...
about long and wide, marking a more-or-less permanent indentation in the front of the Ekstrom Ice Shelf on the coast of
Queen Maud Land Queen Maud Land ( no, Dronning Maud Land) is a roughly region of Antarctica claimed by Norway as a dependent territory. It borders the claimed British Antarctic Territory 20° west and the Australian Antarctic Territory 45° east. In addit ...
.


Discovery and naming

Atka Iceport was mapped in detail by
Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...
cartographers from surveys and air photographs taken by the Norwegian-British-Swedish Antarctic Expedition (1949-1952), led by
John Schjelderup Giæver John Schjelderup Giæver (31 December 1901 – 9 November 1970) was a Norwegian author and polar researcher. Jónsbú Station in NE Greenland was named after him. Personal life He was born in Tromsø in Troms, Norway. He was the son of lawy ...
. It was named by personnel of the USS ''Atka'', under
U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
Commander Glen Jacobsen, which moored here in February 1955 while investigating possible base sites for
International Geophysical Year The International Geophysical Year (IGY; french: Année géophysique internationale) was an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War when scientific ...
operations.


Station

Atka Bay is the site of Germany's
Neumayer-Station III Neumayer-Station III, also known as Neumayer III after geophysicist Georg von Neumayer, is a German Antarctic research station of the Alfred-Wegener-Institut. It is located on the approximately thick Ekström Ice Shelf several kilometres south ...
.


Important Bird Area

A 425 ha tract of sea ice in the bay has been identified as an
Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
by
BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...
because it supports a breeding colony of about 12,000
emperor penguin The emperor penguin (''Aptenodytes forsteri'') is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica. The male and female are similar in plumage and size, reaching in length and weighing from . Feathers of th ...
s.


See also

*
Ice pier An ice pier or ice wharf is a man-made structure used to assist the unloading of ships in Antarctica. It is constructed by pumping seawater into a contained area and allowing the water to freeze. By repeating this procedure several times, additio ...
*
Erskine Iceport Erskine Iceport (), also known as Erskine Bay or General Erskine Bay, is an iceport about wide and long, which marks a more-or-less permanent indentation extending southeast into the seaward front of the extensive ice shelf fringing Queen Maud Lan ...
*
Godel Iceport Godel Iceport is an iceport about wide, which marks a more-or-less permanent indentation in the seaward front of the extensive ice shelf fringing the coast of Queen Maud Land. Discovery and naming Godel Iceport was named by United States Navy Ope ...
*
Norsel Iceport Norsel Iceport (), also known as Norselbukta or Bukhta Nursel, is a small iceport in the front of the Quar Ice Shelf, along the coast of Queen Maud Land. Discovery and naming This feature was named by the Norwegian–British–Swedish Antarctic Ex ...
*
Bay of Whales The Bay of Whales was a natural ice harbour, or iceport, indenting the front of the Ross Ice Shelf just north of Roosevelt Island, Antarctica. It is the southernmost point of open ocean not only of the Ross Sea, but worldwide. The Ross Sea ...


References


External links

* Important Bird Areas of Antarctica Penguin colonies Ports and harbours of Queen Maud Land Bays of Queen Maud Land {{PrincessMarthaCoast-geo-stub