Masson Island or Mission Island is an ice

Ice

Ice is water frozen into the solid state. Usually ice is the phase known as ice Ih, which is the most abundant of the varying solid phases on the Earth's surface. It can appear transparent or opaque bluish-white color, depending on the presence of impurities or air inclusions...

-covered 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...

 about 17 miles (27.4 km) long and rising to 465 metres (1,525.6 ft), lying 9 miles (14.5 km) northwest of Henderson Island

Henderson Island (Shackleton Ice Shelf)

Henderson Island is an ice-covered island long and rising to , lying southeast of Masson Island within the Shackleton Ice Shelf. Henderson Island is located at . Henderson Island was discovered in August 1912 by the Western Base Party of the Australian Antarctic Expedition under Sir Douglas...

 within the Shackleton Ice Shelf

Shackleton Ice Shelf

Shackleton Ice Shelf is an extensive ice shelf fronting the coast of East Antarctica for about 384 km , projecting seaward about 145 km in the western portion and 64 km in the east. It occupies an area of 33,820 km². It is part of Mawson Sea and separates the Queen Mary Coast to the west from...

. Masson Island is located in the western part of Mawson Sea

Mawson Sea

Mawson Sea is an area of the sea along the Queen Mary Land coast of East Antarctica between the Shackleton Ice Shelf in the west and Vincennes Bay in the east. West of it, on the western side of Shackleton Ice Shelf, is the Davis Sea. To the east is Bowman Island and Vincennes Bay.Two important...

 at 66°08′S 96°35′E and has an elevation of 465 metres (1,525.6 ft) Masson Island was discovered in February 1912 by the Australian Antarctic Expedition under Sir Douglas Mawson

Douglas Mawson

Sir Douglas Mawson, OBE, FRS, FAA was an Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer and Academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton, Mawson was a key expedition leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.-Early work:He was appointed geologist to an...

, who named it for Professor Sir David Orme Masson

David Orme Masson

Sir David Orme Masson KBE FRS was a scientist born in England who emigrated to Australia to become Professor of Chemistry at the University of Melbourne.-Early life:...

 of Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, a member of the Australian Antarctic Expedition Advisory Committee.

See also

• Composite Antarctic Gazetteer
• List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands
• List of Antarctic islands south of 60° S
• List of islands of Australia
• SCAR
  Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
  The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research is an interdisciplinary body of the International Council for Science . It was established in February 1958 to continue the international coordination of Antarctic scientific activities that had begun during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58...
  
  
• Territorial claims in Antarctica