Palmer Land () is the portion of the

Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martín in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctic ...

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 ...

that lies south of a line joining

Cape Jeremy Cape Jeremy is a cape marking the east side of the north entrance to George VI Sound and the west end of a line dividing Graham Land and Palmer Land, Antarctica. It was discovered by the British Graham Land expedition, 1934–37, under John Riddoc ...

and

Cape Agassiz Cape Agassiz is the east tip of Hollick-Kenyon Peninsula, a narrow ice-drowned spur extending east from the main mountain axis of the Antarctic Peninsula between Mobiloil Inlet and Revelle Inlet. The cape is the east end of a line from Cape Je ...

. This application of Palmer Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the

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 ...

and the

UK 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 ...

, in which the name Antarctic Peninsula was approved for the major peninsula of Antarctica, and the names

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 an ...

and Palmer Land for the northern and southern portions, respectively. The line dividing them is roughly 69° S.

Boundaries

In its southern extreme, the Antarctic Peninsula stretches west, with Palmer Land eventually bordering

Ellsworth Land Ellsworth Land is a portion of the Antarctic continent bounded on the west by Marie Byrd Land, on the north by Bellingshausen Sea, on the northeast by the base of Antarctic Peninsula, and on the east by the western margin of the Filchner–Ron ...

along the 80° W line of longitude. Palmer Land is bounded in the south by the ice-covered

Carlson Inlet Carlson Inlet () is an ice-filled inlet, long and wide, lying between Fletcher Ice Rise and Fowler Ice Rise in the southwest part of the Ronne Ice Shelf. It was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Lieutenant Ronald F. Carl ...

, an arm of the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, which crosses the 80° W line. This is the base of Cetus Hill. This feature is named after

Nathaniel Palmer Nathaniel Brown Palmer (August 8, 1799June 21, 1877) was an American seal hunter, explorer, sailing captain, and ship designer. He gave his name to Palmer Land, Antarctica, which he explored in 1820 on his sloop ''Hero''. He was born in Stonin ...

, an American sealer who explored the Antarctic Peninsula area southward of

Deception Island Deception Island is an island in the South Shetland Islands close to the Antarctic Peninsula with a large and usually "safe" natural harbor, which is occasionally troubled by the underlying active volcano. This island is the caldera of an acti ...

in the sloop ''

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...

'' in November 1820.

Features

Mountain ranges and isolated peaks

* Briesemeister Peak *

Carey Range The Carey Range () is a mountain range, about long and wide with peaks rising to , between Mosby Glacier and Fenton Glacier in southeast Palmer Land. The range was mapped by the United States Geological Survey from U.S. Navy aerial photographs, ...

Columbia Mountains The Columbia Mountains are a group of mountain ranges along the upper Columbia River in British Columbia, Montana, Idaho and Washington. The mountain range covers 135,952 km² (52,491 sq mi). The range is bounded by the Rocky Mountain T ...

* Dana Mountains * Engel Peaks () *

Mount Peterson Mount Peterson () is a small mountain rising above the ice surface 22 nautical miles (41 km) northwest of Mount Rex, Palmer Land. The feature lies within a group of nunataks first sighted and photographed on November 23, 1935, by Lincoln Ellsw ...

Mount Pitman Mount Pitman () is a mountain in Antarctica. It features two mainly ice-covered, dome-shaped summits, the higher and northern rising to 1,830 m, standing 9 nautical miles (17 km) inland from George VI Sound, between Riley and Chapman Glacie ...

Mount Poster Mount Poster () is a mountain lying west of the Latady Mountains and 9 nautical miles (17 km) northwest of Mount Tenney, in Palmer Land. Mapped by United States Geological Survey (USGS) from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1961–67. Named ...

Mount Southern Mount Southern () is a small mountain, or nunatak, located 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km) northeast of Mount Harry and 14 nautical miles (26 km) southeast of FitzGerald Bluffs, in Palmer Land. Discovered and photographed by Lincoln Ellswort ...

Mount Strong Mount Strong () is a ridge-like mountain about 5 nautical miles (9 km) east of the Eland Mountains, in Palmer Land. Mapped by United States Geological Survey (USGS) in 1974. Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) for Fr ...

Mount Sullivan Mount Sullivan () is a mountain, 2,070 m, standing 12 nautical miles (22 km) east of the north part of the Eternity Range, in Palmer Land. This feature lies in the area explored from the air by Sir Hubert Wilkins in 1928 and Lincoln Ellsworth ...

Pegasus Mountains Pegasus Mountains () is a mountain range, 16 nautical miles (30 km) long, consisting of a system of ridges and peaks broken by two passes. Located between Bertram and Ryder Glaciers and immediately east of Gurney Point on the west coast of ...

Mandolin Hills The Mandolin Hills are an isolated group of nunataks which rise above the ice, east of Mount Noel, Traverse Mountains, in northwestern Palmer Land, Antarctica. The group was so named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee in 1977 from its ...

O'Sullivan Peak O'Sullivan Peak () is an ice-covered peak, 1,765 m, which forms the highest point and is near the south end of a north–south trending ice-covered ridge, standing 11 nautical miles (20 km) west of the north arm of Odom Inlet, on the east coas ...

Renner Peak Renner Peak () is the dominant peak on the small mountain mass between Chapman and Naess Glaciers on the west coast of Palmer Land. Named by United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC) for Robert G.B. Renner, British Antarctic Survey ( ...

* Waitt Peaks

Nunatuks

*Aldebaran Rock (), a particularly conspicuous

nunatak A nunatak (from Inuit ''nunataq'') is the summit or ridge of a mountain that protrudes from an ice field or glacier that otherwise covers most of the mountain or ridge. They are also called glacial islands. Examples are natural pyramidal peaks. ...

of bright red rock, located near the head of

Bertram Glacier Bertram Glacier () is a glacier, long and wide at its mouth, which flows west from the Dyer Plateau of Palmer Land into George VI Sound between Wade Point and Gurney Point. It was discovered and first surveyed in 1936 by A. Stephenson, W.L. ...

and northeast of

in western Palmer Land. It was named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee after

Aldebaran Aldebaran (Arabic: “The Follower”, "الدبران") is the brightest star in the zodiac constellation of Taurus. It has the Bayer designation α Tauri, which is Latinized to Alpha Tauri and abbreviated Alpha Tau or α Tau. Alde ...

, an orange-colored star that is the brightest in the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

Taurus Taurus is Latin for 'bull' and may refer to: * Taurus (astrology), the astrological sign * Taurus (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Taurus (mythology), one of two Greek mythological characters named Taurus * '' Bos tauru ...

Other

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 ...

* Rhino Rock * Scott Uplands

References