Hearst Island is an ice-covered, dome-shaped
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
lying east of
Cape Rymill Cape Rymill () is a steep, metamorphic rock cliff standing opposite the central part of Hearst Island and jutting out from the icecap along the east coast of Palmer Land. Named for John Rymill by members of the East Base of the United States Antarct ...
, in the
Weddell Sea
The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre. Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula. The easternmost point is Cape Norvegia at Princess Martha ...
, off the eastern coast of
Palmer Land. The island is long, in a north–south direction, wide, and rises to .
It was first sighted on a flight on December 20, 1928, by Sir
Hubert Wilkins
Sir George Hubert Wilkins MC & Bar (31 October 188830 November 1958), commonly referred to as Captain Wilkins, was an Australian polar explorer, ornithologist, pilot, soldier, geographer and photographer. He was awarded the Military Cross afte ...
. Thinking it was part of the mainland of
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 ...
, he named it Hearst Land, for
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...
who helped finance the expedition. It was resighted and its insularity ascertained in 1940 by members of the USAS who explored this coast by land and from the air. They named it Wilkins Island. Examination of aerial photographs have shown, however, that this large island is what Wilkins considered Hearst Land.
See also
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Composite Antarctic Gazetteer
The Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica (CGA) of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is the authoritative international gazetteer containing all Antarctic toponyms published in national gazetteers, plus basic information about t ...
*
List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands
*
List of Antarctic islands south of 60° S
*
SCAR
A scar (or scar tissue) is an area of fibrous tissue that replaces normal skin after an injury. Scars result from the biological process of wound repair in the skin, as well as in other organs, and tissues of the body. Thus, scarring is a n ...
*
Territorial claims in Antarctica
Seven sovereign states – Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom – have made eight territorial claims in Antarctica. These countries have tended to place their Antarctic scientific observation and st ...
References
External links
Merriam-Webster's Online Geographical DictionaryPortalGeographical Dictionary
{{usgs-gazetteer, id=6546
Islands of Palmer Land
Islands of Magallanes Region