Thurston Island
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thurston Island () is an ice-covered, glacially dissected island, 215 km long, 90 km wide and 15,700 km² in area, lying a short way off the NW end of Ellsworth Land, Antarctica. It is the third largest island of Antarctica, after Alexander Island and Berkner Island. The island is separated from the mainland by Peacock Sound, which is occupied by the western portion of Abbot Ice Shelf.
The island was discovered from the air by Rear Admiral Byrd on February 27, 1940, who named it for W. Harris Thurston, New York textile manufacturer, designer of the windproof "Byrd Cloth" and sponsor of Antarctic expeditions.
Originally charted as a peninsula, the feature was not recognised an island until 1960.
[edit] References
- http://aadc-maps.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/display_name.cfm?gaz_id=132691ca:Illa de Thurston
de:Thurston-Insel fr:Île Thurston it:Isola Thurston ja:サーストン島 pl:Wyspa Thurstona tr:Thurston Adası
