Falkland Islands Dependencies 1944 9d Graham Land

Graham Land is the portion of the

Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martin 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 Antarctica. ...

that lies north 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, 1934–1937, under John Rid ...

and

Cape Agassiz The Hollick-Kenyon Peninsula() is an ice-covered spur from the main mountain mass of the Antarctic Peninsula. It projects over in a northeasterly arc from its base between Mobiloil Inlet and Casey Inlet. Location The Hollick-Kenyon Peninsul ...

. This description of Graham Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the British Antarctic Place-names Committee and the US

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 ...

, in which the name "Antarctic Peninsula" was approved for the major peninsula 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 (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

, and the names Graham Land and

Palmer Land Palmer Land () is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica that lies south of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This application of Palmer Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the Advisory Committee on Antarctic N ...

for the northern and southern portions, respectively. The line dividing them is roughly 69 degrees south. Graham Land is named after Sir James R. G. Graham,

First Lord of the Admiralty First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the title of the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible f ...

at the time of

John Biscoe John Biscoe (28 April 1794 – 1843) was an English mariner and explorer who commanded the first expedition known to have sighted the areas named Enderby Land and Graham Land along the coast of Antarctica. The expedition also found a number of is ...

's exploration of the west side of Graham Land in 1832. It is claimed by Argentina (as part of

Argentine Antarctica Argentine Antarctica ( or ) is an area on Antarctica claimed by Argentina as part of its national territory. It consists of the Antarctic Peninsula and a triangular section extending to the South Pole, delimited by the 25th meridian west, 25 ...

), Britain (as part of the

British Antarctic Territory The British Antarctic Territory (BAT) is a sector of Antarctica claimed by the United Kingdom as one of its 14 British Overseas Territories, of which it is by far the largest by area. It comprises the region south of 60°S latitude and betwee ...

) and Chile (as part of the

Chilean Antarctic Territory The Chilean Antarctic Territory, or Chilean Antarctica (, ), is a part of West Antarctica and nearby islands claimed by Chile. It comprises the region south of 60th parallel south, 60°S latitude and between longitudes 53rd meridian west, 53°W a ...

). Graham Land is the closest part of Antarctica to South America. Thus it is the usual destination for small ships taking paying visitors on Antarctic trips from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. (Larger ships are not allowed to disembark passengers.) Until the discoveries of the British Graham Land Expedition of 1934–1937, it was generally supposed to be an

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

rather than a peninsula. The mountains of Graham Land are the last range of the

American Cordillera The American Cordillera ( ) is a chain of mountain ranges (cordilleras), consisting of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western "backbone" of the Americas. Aconcagua is the highest peak of the chain. It is also the ...

, the almost continuous sequence of

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

s forming the western "backbone" of North America, Central America, South America and the

. Argentina calls the area ''Tierra de San Martín'' (Land of San Martin)Антарктический полуостров
an article from

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; , ''BSE'') is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Great Russian Enc ...

. and also calls the northern peninsula (

Trinity Peninsula Trinity Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Antarctic Peninsula. It extends northeastward for about 130 km (80 mi) to Cape Dubouzet from an imaginary line connecting Cape Kater on the north-west coast and Cape Longing on the sou ...

) ''Península Trinidad'' or ''Tierra de la Trinidad''. Similarly, Chile calls the entire Antarctic Peninsula ''Tierra de O'Higgins'' (Land of O'Higgins).

Features

Peaks

Mount Brading Larsen Inlet () is an inlet, formerly ice-filled, long in a north–south direction and wide, between Cape Longing and Cape Sobral along the east coast of Graham Land, Antarctica. Location Larsen inlet is at the east end of the Nordenskjöl ...

, east of the northeast corner of

Larsen Inlet Larsen Inlet () is an inlet, formerly ice-filled, long in a north–south direction and wide, between Cape Longing and Cape Sobral along the east coast of Graham Land, Antarctica. Location Larsen inlet is at the east end of the Nordenskjö ...

. * The Downfall, located between the heads of

Arago Glacier Andvord Bay () is a bay, long and wide, which lies between Beneden Head and Duthiers Point along the west coast of Graham Land, Antarctica. Location Andvord Bay is on the Danco Coast on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula. It extands i ...

and

Woodbury Glacier Piccard Cove () is a cove forming the southernmost part of Wilhelmina Bay, along the west coast of Graham Land, Antarctica. Location Wilhelmina Bay is on the Danco Coast on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula. Piccard Cove in the south of ...

Plateaus

The interior of Graham Land is occupied by a series of plateaus, namely (north to south) Laclavère Plateau,

Louis Philippe Plateau The Louis Philippe Plateau () is a plateau, about long and wide, which rises to and occupies the central part of Trinity Peninsula, Antarctica, between Russell West Glacier and Windy Gap (Antarctica), Windy Gap. Location The Louis Philippe P ...

, Detroit Plateau, Herbert Plateau,

Foster Plateau Drygalski Glacier () is a broad glacier, long which flows southeast from Herbert Plateau through a rectangular re-entrant to a point immediately north of Sentinel Nunatak on the east coast of Graham Land, Antarctica. Location Drygalski Gla ...

Forbidden Plateau The Forbidden Plateau is a small, hilly plateau in the east of the Vancouver Island Ranges in British Columbia, northwest of Comox Lake roughly between Mount Albert Edward to the southwest and Mount Washington to the northeast. Geography The ...

Bruce Plateau Bruce Plateau () is an ice-covered plateau, at least long and about high, extending northeast from the heads of Gould Glacier and Erskine Glacier to the vicinity of Flandres Bay, in Graham Land. It borders Avery Plateau on the south and Forbi ...

, Avery Plateau and Hemimont Plateau.

References

External links

* {{Authority control British Antarctic Territory Lands of Antarctica

Features

Peaks

Plateaus

See also

References

Further reading

External links