Ross Island is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

formed by four

volcanoes A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

in the

Ross Sea The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica, between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land and within the Ross Embayment, and is the southernmost sea on Earth. It derives its name from the British explorer James Clark Ross who ...

near the continent 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 ...

, off the coast of

Victoria Land Victoria Land is a region in eastern Antarctica which fronts the western side of the Ross Sea and the Ross Ice Shelf, extending southward from about 70°30'S to 78°00'S, and westward from the Ross Sea to the edge of the Antarctic Plateau. It ...

McMurdo Sound McMurdo Sound is a sound in Antarctica. It is the southernmost navigable body of water in the world, and is about from the South Pole. Captain James Clark Ross discovered the sound in February 1841, and named it after Lt. Archibald McMurdo ...

. Ross Island lies within the boundaries of

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 ...

, an area of Antarctica claimed by

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

History

Discovery

Sir James Ross discovered it in 1840, and it was later named in honour of him by Robert F. Scott. Ross Island was the base for many of the early expeditions to Antarctica. It is the southernmost island reachable by sea. Huts built by Scott's and Shackleton's expeditions are still standing on the island, preserved as historical sites. Today Ross Island is home to

New Zealand's New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country b ...

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 ...

, and the largest Antarctic settlement, the U.S. Antarctic Program's

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 ...

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

established

World Park Base World Park Base was a non-governmental year-round Antarctic base located at Cape Evans on Ross Island in the Ross Dependency. The international environmental organization Greenpeace established World Park Base in 1987 in order to press its dema ...

on the island and ran it for five years, from 1987 to 1992.

Geography

Because of the persistent presence of the

ice sheet In glaciology, an ice sheet, also known as a continental glacier, is a mass of glacial ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than . The only current ice sheets are in Antarctica and Greenland; during the Last Glacial Period at Las ...

, the island is sometimes taken to be part of the Antarctic mainland. Its area is ; only a small portion of the island is free of ice and snow. The planet's southernmost active volcano,

Erebus In Greek mythology, Erebus (; grc, Ἔρεβος, Érebos, "deep darkness, shadow".), or Erebos, is the personification of darkness and one of the primordial deities. Hesiod's ''Theogony'' identifies him as one of the first five beings in exis ...

(), as well as the dormant volcano Terror (), are situated on the island. They were named by Captain James Ross after his ships HMS ''Erebus'' and HMS ''Terror''. The third highest elevation is

Mount Bird Mount Bird is a high shield volcano standing about south of Cape Bird, the northern extremity of Ross Island. It was mapped by the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04, under Robert Falcon Scott, and apparently named by them aft ...

, with

Shell Glacier Shell Glacier () is a western lobe of the Mount Bird icecap. It descends steeply in the valley north of Trachyte Hill and Harrison Bluff in the center of the ice-free area on the lower western slopes of Mount Bird, Ross Island Ross Island is ...

and

Endeavour Piedmont Glacier Endeavour Piedmont Glacier is a piedmont glacier, long and wide, between the southwest part of Mount Bird and Micou Point, Ross Island. In association with the names of expedition ships grouped on this island, it was named after HMNZS ''End ...

on its slopes. Abbott Peak stands between Mount Erebus and Mount Bird.

Gamble Cone Gamble Cone () is a cone south-southeast of Post Office Hill in the Kyle Hills of Ross Island. The feature rises to about . At the suggestion of P.R. Kyle, it was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (2000) after John A. Gamble, a ...

and

Kyle Cone Kyle Cone () is an exposed volcanic cone near Cape Crozier, located west-northwest of the summit of The Knoll in eastern Ross Island, Antarctica. It was named by the New Zealand Antarctic Place-Names Committee after Philip R. Kyle, a geologist wi ...

stand in the east of the island. Beeby Peak is east-northeast of the summit of Mount Bird. Despite its relatively small size, Ross Island is the world's 6th highest island and the highest island in Antarctica. It has the highest average elevation of any island.

Landmarks

Many features on or near Ross Island have been charted and named by various survey and exploration groups. Mount Erebus is the island's most prominent landmark. Hut Point Peninsula, the site of McMurdo Station (US) and Scott Base (New Zealand), projects southwest from its lower slopes. Barne Glacier projects off its western slopes. To the north of Mount Terror are the Kienle Nunataks. The far eastern point of the island is called

Cape Crozier Cape Crozier is the most easterly point of Ross Island in Antarctica. It was discovered in 1841 during James Clark Ross's expedition of 1839 to 1843 with HMS ''Erebus'' and HMS ''Terror'', and was named after Francis Crozier, captain of HMS ' ...

. On the west side of the island is rocky

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, ...

, which forms the north side of

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 ...

References

External links

Coastal-change and Glaciological Map of the Ross Island Area, Antarctica, 1962-2005

United States 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, ...