Roosevelt Island, Antarctica
Encyclopedia
Roosevelt Island is an ice-covered island, about 130 km (81 mi) long in a NW-SE direction, 65 km (40 mi) wide and about 7500 km² (2,896 sq mi) in area, lying in the eastern part of the Ross Ice Shelf
of Antarctica. Its central ridge rises to about 550 m (1,804 ft) above sea level, but this and all other elevations of the island are completely covered by ice, so that the island is invisible at ground level.
The existence and extent of the island is made clear by examination of how the ice flows above it. It was named by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd in 1934 for Franklin D. Roosevelt, then President of the United States. Byrd was the leader of the expedition that discovered the island.
Roosevelt Island lies within the boundaries of the Ross Dependency
, New Zealand's Antarctic claim.
Ross Ice Shelf
The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica . It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than 600 km long, and between 15 and 50 metres high above the water surface...
of Antarctica. Its central ridge rises to about 550 m (1,804 ft) above sea level, but this and all other elevations of the island are completely covered by ice, so that the island is invisible at ground level.
The existence and extent of the island is made clear by examination of how the ice flows above it. It was named by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd in 1934 for Franklin D. Roosevelt, then President of the United States. Byrd was the leader of the expedition that discovered the island.
Roosevelt Island lies within the boundaries of the Ross Dependency
Ross Dependency
The Ross Dependency is a region of Antarctica defined by a sector originating at the South Pole, passing along longitudes 160° east to 150° west, and terminating at latitude 60° south...
, New Zealand's Antarctic claim.
See also
- Composite Antarctic Gazetteer
- List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands
- List of Antarctic islands south of 60° S
- SCARScientific Committee on Antarctic ResearchThe 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