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Hut Point Peninsula () is a long, narrow peninsula from wide and long, projecting south-west from the slopes of
Mount Erebus
Mount Erebus () is the second-highest volcano in Antarctica (after Mount Sidley), the highest active volcano in Antarctica, and the southernmost active volcano on Earth. It is the sixth-highest ultra mountain on the continent.
With a summ ...
on
Ross Island
Ross Island is an island formed by four volcanoes in the Ross Sea near the continent of Antarctica, off the coast of Victoria Land in McMurdo Sound. Ross Island lies within the boundaries of Ross Dependency, an area of Antarctica claimed by New ...
, Antarctica.
McMurdo Station
McMurdo Station is a United States Antarctic research station on the south tip of Ross Island, which is in the New Zealand-claimed Ross Dependency on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. It is operated by the United States through the Unit ...
(US) and
Scott Base
Scott Base is a New Zealand Antarctica, Antarctic research station at Pram Point on Ross Island near Mount Erebus in New Zealand's Ross Dependency territorial claim. It was named in honour of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Royal Navy, RN, leader ...
(NZ) are Antarctic research stations located on the Hut Point Peninsula.
History
![George Vince's Cross](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/George_Vince%27s_Cross.jpg)
The
British National Antarctic Expedition
The ''Discovery'' Expedition of 1901–1904, known officially as the British National Antarctic Expedition, was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since the voyage of James Clark Ross sixty years earlier (1839–18 ...
(1901–04) under
Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra Nov ...
built its
hut
A hut is a small dwelling, which may be constructed of various local materials. Huts are a type of vernacular architecture because they are built of readily available materials such as wood, snow, ice, stone, grass, palm leaves, branches, hid ...
on Hut Point, a small point lying north-east of Cape Armitage, the southern
headland
A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, John ...
of the peninsula. Members of the
British Antarctic Expedition, 1910–13
The ''Terra Nova'' Expedition, officially the British Antarctic Expedition, was an expedition to Antarctica which took place between 1910 and 1913. Led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the expedition had various scientific and geographical objec ...
(BAE), under Scott, wintering on
Cape Evans
Cape Evans is a rocky cape on the west side of Ross Island, Antarctica, forming the north side of the entrance to Erebus Bay.
History
The cape was discovered by the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04, under Robert Falcon Scott, wh ...
and often using the hut during their journeys, came to refer to the whole peninsula as the Hut Point Peninsula.
[ Stonehouse, Bernard. ''Encyclopedia of Antarctica and the Southern Oceans'', John Wiley and Sons, 2002. ]
Historic sites and monuments
Several features on Hut Point, including the cross memorial for George Vince and the store hut for the Scott expeditions, are protected under the
Antarctic Treaty
russian: link=no, Договор об Антарктике es, link=no, Tratado Antártico
, name = Antarctic Treaty System
, image = Flag of the Antarctic Treaty.svgborder
, image_width = 180px
, caption ...
.
Both the cross (HSM 19) and the hut (HSM 18) have been designated
Historic Sites or Monuments, following proposals by New Zealand and the United Kingdom to the
Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.
The point is protected as
Antarctic Specially Protected Area An Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) is an area on the continent of Antarctica, or on nearby islands, which is protected by scientists and several different international bodies. The protected areas were established in 1961 under the Antarct ...
No.158 largely because of its historic significance as one of the principal sites of early human activity in Antarctica.
Geography
A number of features on Hut Point Peninsula have been charted and named by various Antarctic expeditions.
On the west coast, south of the
Erebus Ice Tongue
The Erebus Ice Tongue (more often called "Erebus Glacier Tongue") is a mountain outlet glacier and the seaward extension of Erebus Glacier from Ross Island. It projects into McMurdo Sound from the Ross Island coastline near Cape Evans, Antarc ...
, is Descent Cliff, charted and named by BAE members because they descended to the sea ice from it. South of that are the Hutton Cliffs, named by the ''Discovery'' Expedition (DE) of 1901–04 for Captain Hutton of the
Canterbury Museum, Christchurch
The Canterbury Museum is a museum located in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand, in the city's Cultural Precinct. The museum was established in 1867 with Julius von Haast – whose collection formed its core – as its first director ...
, New Zealand. To the south is Rodgers Point, named in 2000 by the
New Zealand Geographic Board
The New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa (NZGB) was established by the New Zealand Geographic Board Act 1946, which has since been replaced by the New Zealand Geographic Board (Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Act 2008. Althoug ...
after
Thelma Rodgers
Thelma Rodgers is a retired Antarctic scientist from New Zealand. She was the first woman to spend a winter at Scott Base, New Zealand's scientific base in Antarctica.
Life
Rodgers grew up in the Nelson area of the South Island of New Zealand. S ...
, the first woman to winter at
Scott Base
Scott Base is a New Zealand Antarctica, Antarctic research station at Pram Point on Ross Island near Mount Erebus in New Zealand's Ross Dependency territorial claim. It was named in honour of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Royal Navy, RN, leader ...
.
south is Knob Point, a rounded coastal point. This name was adopted by the
United States Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names
The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (ACAN or US-ACAN) is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending commemorative names for features in Antarctica.
History
The committee was established ...
(US-ACAN) as it was already in use by fieldworkers in the area.
Just south is Danger Slopes, a steep ice slope terminating west in a sheer drop to
Erebus Bay
Erebus Bay () is a bay about wide between Cape Evans and Hut Point Peninsula, on the west side of Ross Island. The bay was explored by the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04, under Robert Falcon Scott. It was named by Scott's sec ...
. It was named by DE personnel because Seaman
George T. Vince of the expedition lost his life here in a blizzard when he slipped and fell into the sea.
The southernmost point of the peninsula is Cape Armitage, named by Scott's expedition for Lieutenant (later Captain)
Albert Armitage
Albert Borlase Armitage (2 July 1864 – 31 October 1943) was a Scottish polar explorer and officer in the Merchant Navy.
Early life
Armitage was born in Balquhidder, near Loch Lubnaig in Perthshire on 2 July 1864. He was one of eight ...
, second in command and navigator on the Discovery.
On the east coast, Pram Point sits about northeast of Cape Armitage. It was discovered by DE personnel, and named because they kept a Norwegian 'pram' (
dinghy
A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...
) there to get to the
Ross Ice Shelf
The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica (, an area of roughly and about across: about the size of France). It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than long, and between hi ...
during the summer months.
New Zealand Antarctic
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
Scott Base is on Pram Point. North of Pram Point is ice-covered Polar Bear Point. The name, given by US-ACAN, is allusive; when viewed from the west, the appearance of the point is suggestive of the head, neck and fore part of a
polar bear
The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...
.
Farther north is Ackley Point, named by US-ACAN for sea ice specialist
Stephen F. Ackley.
Approximately north of that is a
rock spur
A spur is a lateral ridge or tongue of land descending from a hill, mountain or main crest of a ridge. It can also be defined as another hill or mountain range which projects in a lateral direction from a main hill or mountain range.
Examples of ...
called Sultans Head Rock, named by DE personnel.
northeast of that is a headland called Tyree Head, named for
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
Admiral
David Tyree
David Mikel Tyree (born January 3, 1980) is a former American football wide receiver and executive who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons, primarily with the New York Giants. He played college football at Syracuse and ...
. The headland rises to over and is ice-covered except for rock exposed on the lower east side.
Geology
Hut Point Peninsula consists of a series of
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
ic
scoria cones
A cinder cone (or scoria cone) is a steep conical hill of loose pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic clinkers, volcanic ash, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are formed by explosive eruptions ...
,
craters and
domes
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
that were formed in the last 1.34 million years. Named cones, domes and craters on the peninsula include:
Cones, domes and other protrusions
*
Black Knob
*
Boulder Cones
*
Breached Cone
*
Castle Rock
*
Centipede Nunatak
*
Cone Hill
Cone Hill () is a hill northeast of Castle Rock on Hut Point Peninsula, Ross Island. The descriptive name Cone Hill I was used by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910–13 under Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 J ...
*
Crater Hill
Crater Hill is one of the volcanoes of the Auckland volcanic field, in New Zealand. It consists of an explosion crater about wide, partly filled with water. The hill, alongside Māngere Lagoon, Waitomokia, Kohuora, Pukaki Lagoon and Robertson H ...
*
Ford Rock Ford Rock is a prominent rock which lies northeast of Cone Hill on Hut Point Peninsula, Ross Island, Antarctica. Cone Hill and this rock were designated "Cone Hill I" and "Cone Hill II," respectively, by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910 ...
*
Fortress Rocks
*
Observation Hill
*
Sulfur Cones
Craters
*
First Crater
*
Half Moon Crater
*
Second Crater
*
Sheppard Crater
*
Twin Crater
References
*
Landforms of Ross Island
Antarctic Specially Protected Areas
Historic Sites and Monuments of Antarctica
1910s establishments in Antarctica
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