Ross Island is an island formed by four
volcano3. Conduit
4. Base
5. Sill
6. Dike
7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano
8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano
10. Throat
11. Parasitic cone
12. Lava flow
13. Vent
14. Crater
15...
es in the
Ross SeaThe Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land. It was discovered by James Ross in 1841. In the west of the Ross Sea is Ross Island with the Mt. Erebus volcano, in the east Roosevelt Island. The southern part is covered by the Ross Ice Shelf...
near the continent of
Antarctica| style="border-top:solid 1px #ccd2d9; padding:0.4em 1em 0.4em 0; vertical-align:top;" | 14,000,000 km
2 280,000 km
2 13,720,000 km
2 |-! style="border-top: solid 1px #ccd2d9; padding: 0.4em 1em 0.4em 0; vertical-align: top;...
, off the coast of
Victoria LandVictoria Land is a region of Antarctica bounded on the east by the Ross Sea and on the west by Wilkes Land. It was discovered by Captain James Clark Ross in January 1841 and named after the UK's Queen Victoria....
in McMurdo Sound. Because of the persistent presence of the ice sheet, the island is sometimes taken to be part of Antarctica. Its area is 2,460 km² (950 sq mi); only a small portion of the island is free of ice and snow. Sir
James Clark RossSir James Clark Ross , was a British naval officer and explorer. He explored the Arctic with his uncle Sir John Ross and Sir William Parry, and later led his own expedition to Antarctica.-Arctic explorer:...
discovered it in 1841, and it was later named in honour of him by Robert F.
Ross Island is an island formed by four
volcano3. Conduit
4. Base
5. Sill
6. Dike
7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano
8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano
10. Throat
11. Parasitic cone
12. Lava flow
13. Vent
14. Crater
15...
es in the
Ross SeaThe Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land. It was discovered by James Ross in 1841. In the west of the Ross Sea is Ross Island with the Mt. Erebus volcano, in the east Roosevelt Island. The southern part is covered by the Ross Ice Shelf...
near the continent of
Antarctica| style="border-top:solid 1px #ccd2d9; padding:0.4em 1em 0.4em 0; vertical-align:top;" | 14,000,000 km
2 280,000 km
2 13,720,000 km
2 |-! style="border-top: solid 1px #ccd2d9; padding: 0.4em 1em 0.4em 0; vertical-align: top;...
, off the coast of
Victoria LandVictoria Land is a region of Antarctica bounded on the east by the Ross Sea and on the west by Wilkes Land. It was discovered by Captain James Clark Ross in January 1841 and named after the UK's Queen Victoria....
in McMurdo Sound. Because of the persistent presence of the ice sheet, the island is sometimes taken to be part of Antarctica. Its area is 2,460 km² (950 sq mi); only a small portion of the island is free of ice and snow. Sir
James Clark RossSir James Clark Ross , was a British naval officer and explorer. He explored the Arctic with his uncle Sir John Ross and Sir William Parry, and later led his own expedition to Antarctica.-Arctic explorer:...
discovered it in 1841, and it was later named in honour of him by Robert F. Scott. The planet's southernmost active volcano,
ErebusMount Erebus in Antarctica is the southernmost historically active volcano on Earth. With a summit elevation of , it is located on Ross Island, which is also home to three inactive volcanoes, notably Mount Terror...
(3794 m), as well as the dormant volcano
TerrorMount Terror is a large shield volcano that forms the eastern part of Ross Island, Antarctica. It has numerous cinder cones and domes on the flanks of the shield and is mostly under snow and ice. It is the second largest of the three volcanoes which make up Ross Island and is somewhat overshadowed...
(3230 m), are situated on the island. They were named by Ross after his ships
HMS ErebusHMS Erebus was a Hecla class bomb vessel designed by Sir Henry Peake and constructed by the Royal Navy in Pembroke dockyard, Wales in 1826. The vessel was named after the dark region in Hades of Greek mythology called Erebus...
and
HMS TerrorHMS Terror was a bomb vessel designed by Sir Henry Peake and constructed by the Royal Navy in the Davy shipyard in Topsham, Devon. The ship, variously listed as being of either 326 or 340 tons, carried two mortars, one and one .-War service:...
. The third highest elevation is
Mount BirdMount Bird is a stratovolcano, 1,765 m, standing about 7 miles south of Cape Bird, the north extremity of Ross Island. It was mapped by the Discovery Expedition, 1901-04, under Robert Falcon Scott, and apparently named by them after Cape Bird. Shell Glacier and Endeavour Piedmont Glacier lie on...
, with
Shell GlacierShell 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. Mapped and so named by the New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic...
and
Endeavour Piedmont GlacierEndeavour Piedmont Glacier is a piedmont glacier, 6 miles long and 2 miles wide, between the southwest part of Mount Bird and Micou Point, Ross Island...
on its slopes.
Abbott PeakAbbott Peak is a pyramidal peak on Ross Island, on the north side of Mount Erebus, between it and Mount Bird. Charted by the British Antarctic Expedition under Scott, 1910-13, and named for Petty Officer George P. Abbott, Royal Navy, a member of the expedition....
stands between Mount Erebus and Mount Bird.
Despite its relatively small size, Ross Island is the world's
6th highest island.
Ross Island was the base for many of the early expeditions to Antarctica. It was and still is the southernmost island reachable by sea. Huts built by Scott's and
ShackletonSir Ernest Henry Shackleton CVO OBE, was an Anglo-Irish explorer who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. His first experience of the polar regions was as third officer on Captain Scott’s Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, from which...
's expeditions are still standing on the island, preserved as historical sites.
Ross Island lies within the boundaries of
Ross DependencyThe Ross Dependency comprises an area of Antarctica claimed by New Zealand. It is 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 nearly identical in size to Sweden and constitutes the bulk of the...
, which is claimed by
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
.
Today Ross Island is home to
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
's
Scott BaseScott Base is a research facility located in Antarctica and is operated by New Zealand. It was named after Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Royal Navy, leader of two British expeditions to the Ross Sea area of Antarctica. Located on Ross Island near Mount Erebus in the Ross Dependency...
, and the largest Antarctic settlement, the U.S. Antarctic Program's
McMurdo StationMcMurdo Station is an American Antarctic research center located on the southern tip of Ross Island on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. It is operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program, a branch of the National Science Foundation...
.
GreenpeaceGreenpeace is a non-governmental organization for the protection and conservation of the environment. Greenpeace uses direct action, lobbying and research to achieve its goals. Greenpeace has a worldwide presence with national and regional offices in 46 countries, which are affiliated to the...
established
World Park BaseWorld Park Base was a non-governmental year-round Antarctic base located on Ross Island in the Ross Dependency. The international environmental organization Greenpeace established World Park Base in 1987 in order to press its demand for the Antarctic Treaty nations to declare all of the continent...
on the island and it ran for five years, from 1987 to 1992.
Ross Island supports a colony of approximately half a million
Adélie PenguinThe Adélie Penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae, is a species of penguin common along the entire Antarctic coast and its nearby islands. They are among most southerly distributed of all seabirds, along with the Emperor Penguin, South Polar Skua, Wilson's Storm Petrel, Snow Petrel, and Antarctic Petrel...
s.
See also
- Erebus Ice Tongue
The Erebus Ice Tongue is a mountain outlet glacier that projects 11-12 km into McMurdo Sound from the Ross Island coastline near Cape Evans, Antarctica. The glacier tongue varies in thickness from 50 m at the snout to 300 m at the point where it is grounded on the shoreline. Explorers from Robert F...
- List of antarctic and sub-antarctic islands
- McMurdo Sound
The ice-clogged waters of Antarctica's McMurdo Sound extend about 55 km long and wide. The sound encompasses 2,500 miles of shoreline which opens to the Ross Sea to the north. The Royal Society Range rises from sea level to 13,205 feet on the western shoreline. The nearby McMurdo Ice Shelf...
- Ross Sea
The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land. It was discovered by James Ross in 1841. In the west of the Ross Sea is Ross Island with the Mt. Erebus volcano, in the east Roosevelt Island. The southern part is covered by the Ross Ice Shelf...
External links