Stonington Island is a rock

Rock (geology)

In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...

y island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 lying 1 mile northeast of Neny Island

Neny Island

Neny Island or is an island long which rises to , lying northwest of Roman Four Promontory and directly north of the mouth of Neny Fjord, off the west coast of Graham Land in Antarctica...

 in the eastern part of Marguerite Bay

Marguerite Bay

Marguerite Bay or Margaret Bay is an extensive bay on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula, which is bounded on the north by Adelaide Island and on the south by Wordie Ice Shelf, George VI Sound and Alexander Island. The mainland coast on the Antarctic Peninsula is Fallières Coast. Islands...

, off the west coast of Graham Land

Graham Land

Graham Land is that portion of the Antarctic Peninsula which 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 the US Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names, in...

. Stonington Island is located at 68°11′S 67°00′W. Stonington Island, 0.4 miles long from northwest to southeast and 0.2 miles wide formerly connected by a drifted snow

Snow

Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...

 slope

Slope

In mathematics, the slope or gradient of a line describes its steepness, incline, or grade. A higher slope value indicates a steeper incline....

 to Northeast Glacier

Northeast Glacier

Northeast Glacier is a steep, heavily crevassed glacier, 13 miles long and 5 miles wide at its mouth, which flows from McLeod Hill westward and then southwestwards into Marguerite Bay between the Debenham Islands and Roman Four Promontory, on the west coast of Graham Land...

 on the mainland

Mainland

Mainland is a name given to a large landmass in a region , or to the largest of a group of islands in an archipelago. Sometimes its residents are called "Mainlanders"...

. Stonington Island was chosen as the site for the East Base of the United States Antarctic Service (USAS) Expedition (1939–1941) and named after Stonington, Connecticut

Stonington, Connecticut

The Town of Stonington is located in New London County, Connecticut, in the state's southeastern corner. It includes the borough of Stonington, the villages of Pawcatuck, Lords Point, Wequetequock, the eastern halves of the villages of Mystic and Old Mystic...

, home port of the sloop

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

 Hero in which Captain

Captain (nautical)

A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...

 Nathaniel Palmer

Nathaniel Palmer

Nathaniel Brown Palmer was an American seal hunter, explorer, sailing captain, and ship designer. He was born in Stonington, Connecticut.-Sealing career and Antarctic exploration:...

 sighted the Antarctic

Antarctic

The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...

 continent

Continent

A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...

 in 1820.

The base was also home to the British Antarctic Survey's Base E, the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition

Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition

The Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition was an expedition from 1947-1948 which researched the area surrounding the head of the Weddell Sea in Antarctica.-Background:...

, and was the base of operations for many historic Antarctic peninsula surveying missions in the 1940s. Base E was occupied through February 1975, and was cleaned up and repaired in 1992.

The huts are protected under the Antarctic Treaty.

Climate

See also

• List of antarctic and sub-antarctic islands
• Edith Ronne
  Edith Ronne
  Edith "Jackie" Ronne was an American explorer of Antarctica and the first woman in the world to be a working member of an Antarctic expedition. She is also the namesake of the Ronne Ice Shelf.-Biography:...
  
  
• Tragic Corner
  Tragic Corner
  Tragic Corner is a bluff rising to about 750 m and marking the northeast end of Boulding Ridge, located between Todd Glacier and McClary Glacier on Fallières Coast. So named by United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee because T. J. Allan and J. F. Noel died in the vicinity as a result of an...