Oates Coast () is that portion of the coast 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 cont ...

between Cape Hudson and Cape Williams. It forms the coast of Oates Land, part of the Australian claim to the Antarctic. The eastern portion of this coast was discovered in February 1911 by Lieutenant

Harry Pennell Lieutenant Pennell with a prismatic compass Commander Harry Lewin Lee Pennell (1882 – 31 May 1916) was a Royal Navy officer who served on the Terra Nova Expedition. He was responsible for the first sighting of Oates Coast on 22 February 1911 ...

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

, commander of the expedition ship '' Terra Nova'' during the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910–13. He named the coast after Captain Lawrence E.G. Oates who, with Captain Robert F. Scott and three British Antarctic Expedition companions, perished on the return journey from the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

in 1912. Captain Oates' death was described by Robert Falcon Scott as "the act of a brave man and English gentleman". The western portion of the coast, the vicinity of the

Mawson Peninsula Mawson Peninsula () is a high (), narrow, ice-covered peninsula on the George V Coast, on the west side of the Slava Ice Shelf, Antarctica, terminating in Cape Hudson. It extends for over in a northwesterly direction. The peninsula was photographed ...

, was first delineated from air photos taken by U.S. Navy Operation Highjump, 1946–47.

References

Coasts of Antarctica Landforms of Oates Land Australian Antarctic Territory {{OatesLand-geo-stub

See also

References