Fairchild Beach is a sandy beach

Beach

A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...

, 0.3 nmi (0.5556 km; 0.345234692482633 mi) wide and 1 nmi (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) long, on Compton Lagoon, on the northeast side of Heard Island

Heard Island and McDonald Islands

The Heard Island and McDonald Islands are an Australian external territory and volcanic group of barren Antarctic islands, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The group's overall size is in area and it has of coastline...

 in the southern Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

. Fairchild Beach extends north from the base of Round Hill

Round Hill (Heard Island)

Round Hill is an ice-free, rounded hill rising southward of Fairchild Beach and between Compton Glacier and Brown Glacier, on the northeast side of Heard Island. Travelling westwards from the sandy Fairchild Beach at the base of Round Hill, one arrives at the rocky Gilchrist Beach.The feature is...

 to the south side of the terminus

Glacier terminus

A glacier terminus, or snout, is the end of a glacier at any given point in time. Although glaciers seem motionless to the observer, in reality glaciers are in endless motion and the glacier terminus is always either advancing or retreating...

 of Compton Glacier

Compton Glacier

Compton Glacier is a glacier, long, flowing northeast from the lower slopes of the Big Ben massif to the northeast side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. Its terminus is located at Compton Lagoon, between Gilchrist Beach and Fairchild Beach. To the northwest of Compton Glacier is Ealey...

. At its western edge, Fairchild Beach communicates with the rocky Gilchrist Beach

Gilchrist Beach

Gilchrist Beach is a rocky beach, 1 nautical mile long, lying west of Compton Glacier on the north side of Heard Island. At its eastern edge, Gilchrist Beach communicates with the sandy Fairchild Beach...

. To the south of Fairchild Beach is Brown Glacier

Brown Glacier

Brown Glacier is a glacier just south of Round Hill on the east side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. Its terminus is at Brown Lagoon. To the northwest of Brown Glacier is Compton Glacier, whose terminus is located at Compton Lagoon, between Gilchrist Beach and Fairchild Beach...

, whose terminus is located at Brown Lagoon. Click here to see a map of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, including all major topographical features.

The name "Fairchild's Beach" was in use by American

People of the United States

The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...

 sealers

Seal hunting

Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. The hunt is currently practiced in five countries: Canada, where most of the world's seal hunting takes place, Namibia, the Danish region of Greenland, Norway and Russia...

as early as 1857, but the origin of the name is not known.