Cape Vostok () is a rocky headland which forms the west extremity of the

Havre Mountains The Havre Mountains () are a large group of mountains forming the northwestern extremity of Alexander Island, Antarctica, extending in an east–west direction between Cape Vostok and the Russian Gap. They were first seen in 1821 by a Russian ex ...

and the northwest extremity 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 ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

. It was discovered by the First Russian Antarctic Expedition in 1821, led by

Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen (russian: Фадде́й Фадде́евич Беллинсга́узен, translit=Faddéy Faddéevich Bellinsgáuzen; – ) was a Russian naval officer, cartographer and explorer, who ultimatel ...

and

Mikhail Lazarev Admiral Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev (russian: Михаил Петрович Лазарев, 3 November 1788 – 11 April 1851) was a Russian fleet commander and an explorer. Education and early career Lazarev was born in Vladimir, a scion of t ...

. It was mapped in detail from aerial photos taken by the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition in 1947–48, and later by 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. Nearby

Balgari Nunatak Balgari Nunatak ( bg, нунатак Българи, ‘Nunatak Balgari’ /'nunatak 'bɤlgari/) is the mostly ice-free rocky ridge extending 800 m in east–west direction and 550 m wide, rising to 282 m Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...

instead. The formation was named by the

United Kingdom 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 ...

for the sloop ''

Vostok Vostok refers to east in Russian but may also refer to: Spaceflight * Vostok programme, Soviet human spaceflight project * Vostok (spacecraft), a type of spacecraft built by the Soviet Union * Vostok (rocket family), family of rockets derived from ...

'', commanded by Bellingshausen. The name means "east", although the cape is located on the western point of the island.Vostok, Cape

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

References

Headlands of Alexander Island {{AlexanderIsland-geo-stub

See also

Further reading

References