Thuronyi Bluff
Encyclopedia
Thuronyi Bluff is a prominent escarpment on the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula
, which faces the Larsen Ice Shelf
and the Weddell Sea
and lies immediately south of the Antarctic Circle
. It is located above Mill Inlet
in British Antarctic Territory
at the base of the Cole Peninsula
, between Balch Glacier and Gould Glacier; it is part of Graham Land
. The bluff was first observed in aerial photographs taken on December 22, 1947, during the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition
. A modern satellite photo of Thuronyi Bluff and its adjoining glaciers can be seen here.
Just north of Thuronyi Bluff, the Larsen Ice Shelf
once extended a hundred kilometers (or more) from land before any open sea would be encountered. However, part of the shelf larger than the state of Rhode Island, known as "Larsen B", disintegrated over a three-week period in 2002, which followed a similar disintegraton of the equivalently sized "Larsen A" region in 1995. It is anticipated that "Larsen C", which lies at the foot of Thuronyi Bluff, may suffer a similar fate sometime in the next decade, after which open seawater will likely come near to Thuronyi Bluff during the austral summertime.
upon Mr. Thuronyi's retirement in 1990, in recognition of his contributions in unveiling the nature of the Antarctic continent.
Antarctic Peninsula
The Antarctic Peninsula is the northernmost part of the mainland of Antarctica. It extends from a line between Cape Adams and a point on the mainland south of Eklund Islands....
, which faces the Larsen Ice Shelf
Larsen Ice Shelf
The Larsen Ice Shelf is a long, fringing ice shelf in the northwest part of the Weddell Sea, extending along the east coast of Antarctic Peninsula from Cape Longing to the area just southward of Hearst Island...
and the Weddell Sea
Weddell Sea
The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre. Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula. The easternmost point is Cape Norvegia at Princess Martha Coast, Queen Maud Land. To the east of Cape Norvegia is...
and lies immediately south of the Antarctic Circle
Antarctic Circle
The Antarctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs south of the Equator.-Description:...
. It is located above Mill Inlet
Mill Inlet
Mill Inlet is an ice-filled inlet which recedes 8 miles in a northwest direction and is some 20 miles wide at its entrance between Cape Robinson and Monnier Point, along the east coast of Graham Land. It was charted by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in 1947 and named for Hugh Robert Mill...
in British Antarctic Territory
British Antarctic Territory
The British Antarctic Territory is a sector of Antarctica claimed by the United Kingdom as one of its 14 British Overseas Territories. It comprises the region south of 60°S latitude and between longitudes and , forming a wedge shape that extends to the South Pole...
at the base of the Cole Peninsula
Cole Peninsula
Cole Peninsula is a peninsula, 15 miles long in an east-west direction and 8 miles wide, lying between Cabinet Inlet and Mill Inlet on the east coast of Graham Land, just east of Thuronyi Bluff and immediately north of the Antarctic Circle...
, between Balch Glacier and Gould Glacier; it is part 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...
. The bluff was first observed in aerial photographs taken on December 22, 1947, during 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:...
. A modern satellite photo of Thuronyi Bluff and its adjoining glaciers can be seen here.
Just north of Thuronyi Bluff, the Larsen Ice Shelf
Larsen Ice Shelf
The Larsen Ice Shelf is a long, fringing ice shelf in the northwest part of the Weddell Sea, extending along the east coast of Antarctic Peninsula from Cape Longing to the area just southward of Hearst Island...
once extended a hundred kilometers (or more) from land before any open sea would be encountered. However, part of the shelf larger than the state of Rhode Island, known as "Larsen B", disintegrated over a three-week period in 2002, which followed a similar disintegraton of the equivalently sized "Larsen A" region in 1995. It is anticipated that "Larsen C", which lies at the foot of Thuronyi Bluff, may suffer a similar fate sometime in the next decade, after which open seawater will likely come near to Thuronyi Bluff during the austral summertime.
Namesake
This escarpment is named for Géza T. Thuronyi (1919-2007), an Antarctic scholar at the Library of Congress, whose annotated bibliographies of the meteorological and geoastrophysical characteristics of Earth's cold regions did much to make often obscure publications more available to both the scientific community and the public. The name was applied by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic NamesAdvisory Committee on Antarctic Names
The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending names for features in Antarctica...
upon Mr. Thuronyi's retirement in 1990, in recognition of his contributions in unveiling the nature of the Antarctic continent.