Clark Peninsula is a rocky peninsula, about long and wide, lying north-east of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Casey Station Casey Station, commonly called Casey, is one of three permanent stations and research outposts in Antarctica managed by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). Casey lies on the northern side of the Bailey Peninsula (Antarctica), Bailey Peninsu ...

at the north side of

Newcomb Bay Newcomb Bay is a sheltered bay about 1 mile (1.6 km) in extent, between Clark Peninsula and Bailey Peninsula in the Windmill Islands area. First mapped from U.S. Navy Operation Highjump aerial photographs taken in February 1947. In Februa ...

on the

Budd Coast Budd Coast (), part of Wilkes Land, is that portion of the coast of Antarctica lying between the Hatch Islands, at 109°16'E, and Cape Waldron, at 115°33'E. It was discovered in February 1840 by the U.S. Exploring Expedition (1838–42) under ...

Wilkes Land Wilkes Land is a large district of land in eastern Antarctica, formally claimed by Australia as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory, though this claim has been held in abeyance for the period of the operation of the Antarctic Treaty, to wh ...

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

History

The peninsula was first mapped from aerial photographs taken by the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

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 (exploration b ...

in February 1947 and thought to be an island connected by a steep snow ramp to the continental ice overlying Budd Coast. It was subsequently photographed from the air by the Soviet expedition of 1956 and the

Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions The Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE ) is the historical name for the Australia: Antarctic Program#Australian Antarctic program, Australian Antarctic Program (AAP) administered for Australia by the Australian Antarctic D ...

(ANARE) of 1956 and 1962. The

Wilkes Station Wilkes Station was an Antarctic research station established 29 January 1957 by the United States as one of seven U.S. stations established for the International Geophysical Year (IGY) program in Antarctica. It was taken over by Australia on ...

party of 1957, whose headquarters were on Clark, determined that it was a peninsula rather than an island. This party was led by Scientific Station Leader Carl R. Eklund, who conducted many ground surveys and named many of the peninsula's features. The peninsula itself was 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 Captain John E. Clark, captain of ,

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

of the western task group of

, 1946–1947.

Geography

Clark Peninsula is large enough that numerous features on its coast have been individually charted and named. The peninsula protrudes into the ocean to the west. Notable features will be described following the coastline, beginning from the north and continuing towards the south. Unless otherwise noted, all of the following features were first mapped from air photos taken by Operation Highjump in 1946–1947, and named by Carl Eklund following ground surveys in 1957, typically for members of the Wilkes Station party. The first notable feature on the northern coast of the peninsula is Stevenson Cove. It was named for Andrew Stevenson, economic advisor to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, author of a report for the Committee on the

International Geophysical Year The International Geophysical Year (IGY; ), also referred to as the third International Polar Year, was an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War w ...

in the Arctic and Antarctic. To the west is the peninsula's northernmost extremity, Blakeney Point. It was named by US-ACAN for A. A. Blakeney, photographer's mate on Operation Highjump. Whitney Point is a rocky point that marks the north side of the entrance to Powell Cove. When initially charted, it was thought to be a small island. It was named for photographer's mate I.A. Whitney of Operation Highjump. Powell Cove was named for aerographer James T. Powell. The westernmost extremity of the peninsula is rocky Stonehocker Point, which is the site of Wilkes Station. It was named for

ionospheric The ionosphere () is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about to above sea level, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays ...

scientist

Garth H. Stonehocker Garth may refer to: Places Canada *Garth, Alberta United Kingdom * Garth, Bridgend, a village in south Wales :* Garth railway station (Bridgend) * Garth, Ceredigion, small village in Wales * Garth, Treflys, Powys, a village in mid-Wales ** Garth ...

. South of Stonehocker Point is Noonan Cove, named for photographer Paul F. Noonan. To the south,

separates Clark Peninsula from Bailey Peninsula. Inland to the east, at the base of the peninsula are the Løken Moraines, a line of north-south trending

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...

s, or accumulations of glacial debris.

Offshore features

A narrow rock reef called Dahl Reef, which uncovers at low tide, lies northwest of Stonehocker Point. It was first charted in 1962, during a hydrographic survey of Newcomb Bay and approaches, by d'A. T. Gale of ANARE. It was named for Egil Dahl, third mate on , the ship used by ANARE in 1962. Gibney Reef is exposed off the shore to the west of the peninsula. It was first charted in February 1957 by a party from . The name was suggested by Lt. Robert C. Newcomb, USN, the navigator of ''Glacier'', after Seaman Joseph Gibney's idea to name it Mussolini Reef was rejected.

Antarctic Specially Protected Area

The 9.4 km² peninsula is protected under the

Antarctic Treaty System The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. It was the first arms ...

Antarctic Specially Protected Area An Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) is an area on the continent of Antarctica, or on nearby islands, which is protected by scientists and several different international bodies. The protected areas were established in 1961 under the Antarc ...

(ASPA) No.136 because of the long-term and ongoing research programs and monitoring studies carried out on its plant communities and

Adélie penguin The Adélie penguin (''Pygoscelis adeliae'') is a species of penguin common along the entire coast of the Antarctic continent, which is the only place where it is found. It is the most widespread penguin species, and, along with the emperor peng ...

breeding colonies. Other birds breeding at the site include

south polar skua The south polar skua (''Stercorarius maccormicki'') is a large seabird in the skua family, Stercorariidae. An older name for the bird is MacCormick's skua, after explorer and naval surgeon Robert McCormick, who first collected the type specime ...

Wilson's storm petrel Wilson's storm petrel (''Oceanites oceanicus''), also known as Wilson's petrel, is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. It is one of the most abundant bird species in the world and has a circumpolar distribution mainly ...

s and

snow petrel The snow petrel (''Pagodroma nivea'') is the only member of the genus ''Pagodroma.'' It is one of only three birds that have been seen at the Geographic South Pole, along with the Antarctic petrel and the south polar skua, which has the most s ...

s. The site has also been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because of its large numbers of breeding

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Birds, Islands, Geography, Earth sciences, Weather Peninsulas of Wilkes Land Antarctic Specially Protected Areas Seabird colonies Penguin colonies Important Bird Areas of Antarctica