Davis Sea is an area of the sea along the coast of

East Antarctica East Antarctica, also called Greater Antarctica, constitutes the majority (two-thirds) of the Antarctic continent, lying on the Indian Ocean side of the continent, separated from West Antarctica by the Transantarctic Mountains. It lies almost ...

between

West Ice Shelf The West Ice Shelf is a prominent ice shelf extending about in an east–west direction along the Leopold and Astrid Coast in East Antarctica between Barrier Bay and Posadowsky Bay, and up to 120 km northwards from the continental marg ...

in the west and the Shackleton Ice Shelf in the east,USGS Geographic Names Information System, Antarctica Data, Davis Sea
/ref> or between 82° and 96°E. The name "Davis Sea" appears in most leading geographically authoritative publications such as the 2014 10th edition World Atlas from the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...

and the 2014 12th edition of the ''

Times Atlas of the World ''The Times Atlas of the World'', rebranded ''The Times Atlas of the World: Comprehensive Edition'' in its 11th edition and ''The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World'' from its 12th edition, is a world atlas currently published by HarperCol ...

'', unlike neighboring proposed water body names such as the Russian-proposed

Cooperation Sea Cooperation Sea, also called Commonwealth Sea (erratum) or Sodruzhestvo Sea (russian: Море Содружества), is a proposed sea name for part of the Southern Ocean, between Enderby Land (the eastern limit of which is 59°34'E) and West ...

to the west. According to the ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'', it stretches from 87°E to 98°E, and is up to deep. Its area is given as only .Gazetteer «About countries»: Davis Sea
/ref> Other authorities such as National Geographic assign it a much smaller extent. The sea borders the Leopold and Astrid Coast portion of

Princess Elizabeth Land Princess Elizabeth Land is the sector of Antarctica between longitude 73° east and Cape Penck (at 87°43' east). The sector is claimed by Australia as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory, although this claim is not widely recognized. ...

, then Kaiser Wilhelm II Land, Pravda Coast and

Queen Mary Land Queen Mary Land or the Queen Mary Coast () is the portion of the coast of Antarctica lying between Cape Filchner, in 91° 54' E, and Cape Hordern, at 100° 30' E. It is claimed by Australia as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory. It ...

. The never-approved 2002 draft fourth edition of ''Limits of Oceans and Seas'' identifies that the Tryoshnikova Gulf (named after Alexey Tryoshnikov) is located in the southern part of the Davis Sea. About off the coast of Queen Mary Land is

Drygalski Island Drygalski Island is an ice-capped island that is long and rises to in the Davis Sea of the Southern Ocean, about north of the coast of Queen Mary Land and north-northeast of Cape Filchner. The island has an area of . Drygalski Island was ...

. The Russian

Mirny Station The Mirny Station (russian: Мирный, literally ''Peaceful'') is a Russian (formerly Soviet) first Antarctic science station located in Queen Mary Land, Antarctica, on the Antarctic coast of the Davis Sea. The station is managed by the ...

was built on the coast of Queen Mary Land in 1956.

Roscoe Glacier Roscoe Glacier () is an Antarctic channel glacier, 12 nautical miles (22 km) long and 3 to 5 nautical miles (9 km) wide, debouching from a small valley onto the west portion of Shackleton Ice Shelf, midway between Cape Moyes and Junc ...

flows into the eastern part of Davis Sea. Close offshore are Bigelow Rock and the Gillies Islands. The sea was discovered by the Australian Antarctic Expedition (1911–1914) from the ''Aurora''. It was named by Sir

Douglas Mawson Sir Douglas Mawson OBE FRS FAA (5 May 1882 – 14 October 1958) was an Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer, and academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, he was a key expedition leader duri ...

for Captain John King Davis, master of the ''Aurora'' and second in command of the expedition.

References

Seas of the Southern Ocean Antarctic region {{marine-geo-stub

See also

References