Damocles Point () is a headland on the east coast 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 ...

, east-southeast of the south summit of

Mount Tyrrell Mount Tyrrell () is an irregular mountain with two summits, the highest rising to a maximum height of , standing 3 nautical miles (6 km) inland from the east coast of Alexander Island, Antarctica, situated on the east side and near the mouth ...

. A small rock exposure near sea level is surmounted by a ice cliff. The headland is adjacent to

George VI Sound George VI Sound or Canal Jorge VI or Canal Presidente Sarmiento or Canal Seaver or King George VI Sound or King George the Sixth Sound is a major bay/ fault depression, 300 miles (483 km) long and mainly covered by a permanent ice shelf. It ...

and is facing towards the

Rymill Coast Rymill Coast is that portion of the west coast of Antarctic Peninsula between Cape Jeremy and Buttress Nunataks. It runs northward from English Coast and east of Alexander Island across George VI Sound, encompassing the Batterbee Mountains. It is ...

Palmer Land Palmer Land () is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica that lies south of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This application of Palmer Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the Advisory Committee on Antarctic N ...

. It was first photographed from the air in 1937 by the British Graham Land Expedition under Rymill. It was surveyed in 1948 by 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 on ...

, and so named by them because the ice cliff overhanging the spot where geological specimens were collected seemed like the sword of

Damocles Damocles is a character who appears in an (likely apocryphal) anecdote commonly referred to as "the sword of Damocles", an allusion to the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power. Damocles was a courtier in the cou ...

References

Headlands of Alexander Island {{AlexanderIsland-geo-stub