Portal Point () is a narrow point in the northeast part of Reclus Peninsula, on the west coast of

Graham Land Graham Land is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula that lies north of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This description of Graham Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the British Antarctic Place-names Committee and ...

. In 1956, a

Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...

(FIDS) hut was established on the point, from which a route to the plateau was established. So named by the

United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee The UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (or UK-APC) is a United Kingdom government committee, part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, responsible for recommending names of geographical locations within the British Antarctic Territory (BAT) and ...

(UK-APC) in 1960 because the point is the "gateway" of the route.

Cape Reclus Refuge

Cape Reclus Refuge () is a British refuge, managed by the

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...

, located at Portal Point on the Reclus Peninsula. The hut was inaugurated on 13 December 1956 and remained active until April 25, 1958. A four men team, led by

Wally Herbert Sir Walter William Herbert (24 October 1934 – 12 June 2007) was a British polar explorer, writer and artist. In 1969 he became the first man fully recognized for walking to the North Pole, on the 60th anniversary of Robert Peary's disputed exp ...

completed the first traverse from

Hope Bay Hope Bay (Spanish: ''Bahía Esperanza'') on Trinity Peninsula, is long and wide, indenting the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and opening on Antarctic Sound. It is the site of the Argentinian Antarctic settlement Esperanza Base, established i ...

to Cape Reclus in 1957, they wintered in the refuge and carried out local survey. The refuge was dismantled in March 1996 and transported to the

Falkland Islands Museum and National Trust The Falkland Islands Museum is located at the historical dockyard site in Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is run by the Falkland Islands Museum and National Trust (FIMNT), which is a registered char ...

where was rebuilt inside the new Museum in 2014.

Biology

Portal point often has numerous Weddell seals hauled out near the landing. There are no penguin colonies because of the abundant snow cover.

Geography

Portal Point is a snow and ice-covered point consisting of Mesozoic granite.Joseph Holliday, Geology Professor, El Camino College Granite bedrock of Portal Point

References

* Headlands of Graham Land Danco Coast {{DancoCoast-geo-stub

Cape Reclus Refuge

Biology

Geography

See also

References