Siple Island
Encyclopedia
Siple Island is a 110 km (68.4 mi) long snow-covered island lying east of Wrigley Gulf
Wrigley Gulf
Wrigley Gulf is an embayment about 115 miles wide along the coastline of Antarctica, lying seaward of the Getz Ice Shelf. Nearly a right angle in plan, its limits are described by Grant Island, Dean Island, and Siple Island, which are partially or wholly embedded in the ice shelf.Wrigley Gulf was...

 along the Getz Ice Shelf
Getz Ice Shelf
Getz Ice Shelf is an Antarctic ice shelf, over 480 km long and from 32 to 96 km wide, bordering the Hobbs and Bakutis Coasts of Marie Byrd Land between McDonald Heights and Martin Peninsula. Several large islands are partially or wholly embedded in the ice shelf.The ice shelf westward of Siple...

 off Bakutis Coast
Bakutis Coast
The Bakutis Coast is that part of the coast of Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica, extending from a point opposite eastern Dean Island, at , to Cape Herlacher, or between Hobbs Coast in the west and Walgreen Coast in the east. It stretches between 127°35'W and 114°12'W. The coast in this area is...

 of Marie Byrd Land
Marie Byrd Land
Marie Byrd Land is the portion of West Antarctica lying east of the Ross Ice Shelf and the Ross Sea and south of the Pacific Ocean, extending eastward approximately to a line between the head of the Ross Ice Shelf and Eights Coast. It stretches between 158°W and 103°24'W...

, Antarctica. Its centre is located at 73°51′S 125°50′W.

Its area is 6390 km² (2,467 sq mi) and it is dominated by the dormant shield volcano
Shield volcano
A shield volcano is a type of volcano usually built almost entirely of fluid lava flows. They are named for their large size and low profile, resembling a warrior's shield. This is caused by the highly fluid lava they erupt, which travels farther than lava erupted from more explosive volcanoes...

 Mount Siple
Mount Siple
Mount Siple is a potentially active shield volcano, rising to and dominating the northwest part of Siple Island, which is separated from the Bakutis Coast, Marie Byrd Land, by the Getz Ice Shelf. Its youthful appearance strongly suggests that it last erupted in Holocene. It is capped by a summit...

, rising to 3110 m (10,203 ft) - making this the 17th ranking 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...

 in the world by maximum altitude
Altitude
Altitude or height is defined based on the context in which it is used . As a general definition, altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The reference datum also often varies according to the context...

.

Island and mountain were named by the United States Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) in 1967 in honour of the Antarctic explorer Paul A. Siple (1909–1968), member of Admiral Byrd's expeditions.

See also

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