Oates Land in Australian Antarctic Territory

Oates Land is a region 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 ...

. It is variously defined as a portion of the

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 ...

near the coast stretching along and inland from the Oates Coast (see map) and as an officially delineated wedge-shaped segment of the

Australian Antarctic Territory The Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) is a part of East Antarctica claimed by Australia as an external territory. It is administered by the Australian Antarctic Division, an agency of the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Env ...

. The segment of the Australian claim extends between 153°45' E and 160° E, forming a wedge between Latitude 60° S and 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 ...

. It is bounded in the east by the

Ross Dependency The Ross Dependency is a region of Antarctica defined by a sector originating at the South Pole, passing along longitudes 160° east to 150° west, and terminating at latitude 60° south. It is claimed by New Zealand, a claim accepted only b ...

and overlaps

George V Land George V Land is a segment of Antarctica part of the land claimed as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory, inland from the George V Coast. As with other segments of Antarctica, it is defined by two lines of longitude, 142°02' E and 153°4 ...

to the west.

Exploration

Oates Land 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 ...

of the

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 F ...

, commander of the '' Terra Nova'', the expedition ship of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910–13. It is named after Captain Lawrence Edward Grace "Titus" Oates of the

6th (Iniskilling) Dragoons The 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1689 as Sir Albert Cunningham's Regiment of Dragoons. One of the regiment's most notable battles was the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690. It became the ...

, who, with Captain

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 ...

and three companions, lost his life on the return journey from the South Pole in 1912.Geographic Names Information System,
Oates Land
, United States Geological Survey; accessed 2020.05.28. The coastal region of Oates Land has been photographed or explored by the

United States 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 ...

during

Operation Highjump Operation HIGHJUMP, officially titled The United States Navy Antarctic Developments Program, 1946–1947, (also called Task Force 68), was a United States Navy (USN) operation to establish the Antarctic research base Little America IV. The opera ...

(1946–47), the

Soviet Antarctic Expedition The Soviet Antarctic Expedition (SAE or SovAE) (russian: Советская антарктическая экспедиция, САЭ, ''Sovetskaya antarkticheskaya ekspeditsiya'') was part of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute of the So ...

(1958),

ANARE The Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE ) is the historical name for the Australia: Antarctic Program#Australian Antarctic program, Australian Antarctic Program (AAp) administered for Australia by the Australian Antarctic D ...

(1959, 1961 and 1962), the

US 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 of ...

(1960–62), and the

US Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, an ...

(1963–64).

Features

Pedalling Ice Field Pedalling Ice Field () is an icefield composed of blue ice, located at the edge of the polar plateau just south of Mount Dewitt and Mount Littlepage, close to the boundary between Oates Land and Victoria Land. The name alludes to the use of a bicy ...

* Todd Gully

References

Australian Antarctic Territory Lands of Antarctica {{OatesLand-geo-stub