The Beethoven Peninsula is a deeply indented, ice-covered peninsula, long in a northeast–southwest direction and wide at its broadest part, forming the southwest part of

Alexander Island 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, Antarc ...

, which lies off the southwestern portion of the Antarctic Peninsula. The south side of the peninsula is supported by the

Bach Ice Shelf The Bach Ice Shelf () is an ice shelf which is irregular in shape and in extent, occupying an embayment in the south part of Alexander Island entered between Berlioz Point and Rossini Point. The ice shelf supports the south face of the Beeth ...

whilst the north side of the peninsula is supported by the

Wilkins Ice Shelf Wilkins or Wilkin is a name variant of William, and may refer to: People Given name: Wilkin * Wilkins (singer) (Germán Wilkins Vélez Ramírez, born 1953), Puerto Rican pop music singer and composer * Wilkin Castillo (born 1984), Dominican b ...

. 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 The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...

. Beethoven Peninsula is one of the eight peninsulas of Alexander Island. The peninsula was first seen and photographed from the air in 1940 by the US Antarctic Service, which compiled the first rough map of southwest Alexander Island. It was resighted and photographed from the air by the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition (RARE), 1947–48, and remapped from RARE photos by Derek J.H. Searle of the

Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic o ...

in 1960. It was named by the

UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee The UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (or UK-APC) is a United Kingdom government committee, part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, responsible for recommending names of geographical locations within the British Antarctic Territory (BAT) and ...

after the composer

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

References

* ''National Geographic Atlas of the World'', 7th Edition. * Peninsulas of Alexander Island Peninsula Beethoven {{AlexanderIsland-geo-stub

See also

Further reading

Further reading

References