Thurston Island is an ice-covered, glacially dissected island, long, wide and in area, lying a short way off the northwest end of

Ellsworth Land Ellsworth Land is a portion of the Antarctic continent bounded on the west by Marie Byrd Land, on the north by Bellingshausen Sea, on the northeast by the base of Antarctic Peninsula, and on the east by the western margin of the Filchner–Ronne ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. It is the third-largest island of

, after

Alexander Island Alexander Island, which is also known as Alexander I Island, Alexander I Land, Alexander Land, Alexander I Archipelago, and Zemlja Alexandra I, is the largest island of Antarctica. It lies in the Bellingshausen Sea west of Palmer Land, Antarc ...

and

Berkner Island Berkner Island (also known as the Berkner Ice Rise or as Hubley Island) is an Antarctic ice rise, where bedrock below sea level has caused the surrounding ice sheet to create a dome. If the ice cap were removed, the island would be underwater. Be ...

. The island was discovered from the air by Rear Admiral

Byrd Byrd commonly refers to: * William Byrd (c. 1540 – 1623), an English composer of the Renaissance * Richard E. Byrd (1888–1957), an American naval officer and explorer Byrd or Byrds may also refer to: Other people * Byrd (surname), includin ...

on February 27, 1940, who named it for W. Harris Thurston, a New York textile manufacturer, designer of the windproof " Byrd Cloth" and sponsor of Antarctic expeditions. Thurston Island is separated from the mainland by

Peacock Sound Peacock Sound is an ice-filled sound, long and wide, separating Thurston Island from the Eights Coast of Ellsworth Land in Antarctica. The sound is occupied by the western part of the Abbot Ice Shelf, and is therefore not navigable by ships. ...

, which is occupied by the western portion of Abbot Ice Shelf. It divides

Bellingshausen Sea The Bellingshausen Sea is an area along the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula between 57°18'W and 102°20'W, west of Alexander Island, east of Cape Flying Fish on Thurston Island, and south of Peter I Island (there the southern ''Vostokkyst ...

to the east from

Amundsen Sea The Amundsen Sea, an arm of the Southern Ocean off Marie Byrd Land in western Antarctica, lies between Cape Flying Fish (the northwestern tip of Thurston Island) to the east and Cape Dart on Siple Island to the west. Cape Flying Fish marks th ...

to the west. Originally mistaken as a

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on a ...

, the feature was not recognised an island until 1960.

Geography

The western extremity of the island is

Cape Flying Fish Cape Flying Fish (, also known as Cape Dart) is an ice-covered cape which forms the western extremity of Thurston Island. It was discovered by Richard E. Byrd and members of the US Antarctic Program in a flight from the USS ''Bear'' in Februar ...

. The eastern extremity is Cape Annawan, off

Tierney Peninsula Tierney Peninsula () is an ice-covered peninsula about 14 nautical miles (26 km) long, between Savage Glacier and Morgan Inlet in the east end of Thurston Island. The east extremity of the peninsula (and Thurston Island overall) is Cape Anna ...

. The southeast end of the island is Cape Walker. The island is divided south-north by the

Walker Mountains Walker Mountains () is a range of peaks and nunataks which are fairly well separated but trend east–west to form the axis, or spine, of Thurston Island in Antarctica. They were discovered by Rear Admiral Byrd and members of the US Antarctic S ...

, a range of peaks and nunataks. Several other peaks are situated on the

Edwards Edwards may refer to: People * Edwards (surname) * Edwards family, a prominent family from Chile * Edwards Barham (1937-2014), a former member of the Louisiana State Senate * Edwards Pierrepont (1817–1892), an American attorney, jurist, and or ...

and Noville Peninsulas. There are many glaciers on Thurston Island.

Features by coast

North coast

The north coast of the island is indented by a series of alternating inlets and peninsulas. Cape Petersen forms the westernmost portion of the northern coast. East of that is Jones Peninsula, then Dyer Point and Hughes Peninsula. Henry Inlet indents the coast to the east, and Tinglof Peninsula forms its eastern shore. Wagoner Inlet is east of that, followed by Starr Peninsula. Glacier Bight is to the east, and just north off the coast from them are the hazardous Porters Pinnacles. East of Starr Peninsula are Potaka Inlet, Kearns Peninsula, followed by

Peale Inlet Peale Inlet is an ice-filled inlet about 16 nautical miles (30 km) long, lying immediately west of Noville Peninsula and indenting the north side of Thurston Island. It was delineated from aerial photographs taken by U.S. Navy Operation ...

. The larger Noville Peninsula is to the east. It is bordered by Murphy Inlet, whose southern end is split into two prongs by Linsley Peninsula and Ball Peninsula. Edwards Peninsula, Koether Inlet, and the larger Evans Peninsula are to the east. Cadwalader Inlet, Lofgren Peninsula, and

Morgan Inlet Morgan Inlet is an ice-filled inlet about long, with two branches, indenting the east end of Thurston Island, Antarctica, between Lofgren Peninsula and Tierney Peninsula. The south side of the larger north arm of the inlet is an area of icy ...

form the northeastern coast.

East coast

The easternmost point of the island is

, southeast of which is

Seraph Bay Seraph Bay is an open bay about 15 nautical miles (28 km) wide, formed at the southeast end of Thurston Island. It is bounded by Cape Annawan on the northwest, Abbot Ice Shelf on the southwest and Dustin Island on the southeast. It was d ...

. Simpson Bluff, a broad ice-covered bluff, sits between Levko Glacier and Savage Glacier where they enter the bay. Nearby Baker Knob is a small rounded coastal elevation which has an abrupt east face. Both Simpson Bluff and Baker Knob were named by the

Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (ACAN or US-ACAN) is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending commemorative names for features in Antarctica. History The committee was established ...

(US-ACAN) for personnel from the Eastern Group of

U.S. Navy Operation HIGHJUMP Operation HIGHJUMP, officially titled The United States Navy Antarctic Developments Program, 1946–1947, (also called Task Force 68), was a United States Navy (USN) operation to establish the Antarctic research base Little America IV. The opera ...

: Photographer's Mates R.M. Simpson and T.W. Baker, respectively. Operation HIGHJUMP obtained aerial photographs of Thurston Island and adjacent coastal areas in 1946-47. Snow-covered Harrison Nunatak stands south of

Savage Glacier Savage Glacier () is a glacier at the east end of Thurston Island, lying south of Tierney Peninsula and flowing east to Seraph Bay. The glacier was discovered on helicopter flights from the ''USS Glacier'' and Burton Island by personnel of the ...

. It was discovered on helicopter flights from the USS ''Burton Island'' (AGB-1) and USS ''Glacier'' (AGB-4) during the U.S. Navy

Expedition in February 1960, and was named by US-ACAN for Henry T. Harrison Jr., a

U.S. Weather Bureau The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the ...

meteorologist with the

Byrd Antarctic Expedition Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer and explorer. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, p ...

in 1928–30. The southeast point of the island is Cape Walker.

South coast

On the south side of the island are King Peninsula, Williamson Peninsula, Evans Point, and Von der Wall Point, projecting into

. Williamson Peninsula is bordered by Schwartz Cove and O'Dowd Cove. Shelton Head is a

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, J ...

marked by exposed rock, located west of Long Glacier on the south coast of Thurston Island. It was mapped by the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

(USGS) from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1960–66, and named by US-ACAN for John A. Shelton meteorologist at

Byrd Station The Byrd Station is a former research station established by the United States during the International Geophysical Year by U.S. Navy Seabees during Operation Deep Freeze II in West Antarctica. History A joint Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marin ...

, 1963-64. Prickly Ridge is a rounded ice-covered ridge west of Shelton Head on the south side of Thurston Island. The descriptive name was given by the

(US-ACAN); small dispersed

nunatak A nunatak (from Inuit language, Inuit ''nunataq'') is the summit or ridge of a mountain that protrudes from an ice field or glacier that otherwise covers most of the mountain or ridge. They are also called glacial islands. Examples are natural p ...

s rise above the ice surface, giving the feature a prickly appearance. Belknap Nunatak, an ice-covered spur, is the largest outcrop on the ridge. It was mapped by the USGS from surveys and from

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

air photos, 1960–66, and named by US-ACAN for William Belknap, a field assistant at

, 1964–65.

References

{{Authority control Islands of Ellsworth Land