Erratic Point is a small, moss-covered point at the head of

South West Bay South West Bay () is an open bay indenting the west side of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Heard Island immediately north of Cape Gazert in the southern Indian Ocean. The bay was roughly charted on an 1860 sketch map compiled by Captain H.C. Ch ...

, northeast of

Cape Gazert Cape Gazert () is a cape at the western end of the rocky promontory which forms the south side of South West Bay, on the west side of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. This feature was known to American sealers as "Green Point", as shown by ...

, on the west side of

Heard Island The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) is an Australian external territory comprising a volcanic group of mostly barren Antarctic islands, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The group's overall size ...

in the southern

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

. The

First German Antarctica Expedition The ''Gauss'' expedition of 1901–1903 (also known as the ''Deutsche Südpolar-Expedition 1901–1903)'' was the first German expedition to Antarctica. It was led by geologist Erich von Drygalski in the ship , named after the mathematician and p ...

in 1902 charted a cape in this vicinity, from the summit of

Mount Drygalski Mount Drygalski is an ice-free hill, high, standing southeast of Atlas Cove, near the northwest end of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. The feature appears to have been roughly charted on an 1882 sketch map compiled by Ensign Washingt ...

, and applied the name "Kap Lerche." In November 1929 the

British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition The British Australian (and) New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) was a research expedition into Antarctica between 1929 and 1931, involving two voyages over consecutive Austral summers. It was a British Commonwealth initiative, dr ...

under

Douglas Mawson Sir Douglas Mawson OBE FRS FAA (5 May 1882 – 14 October 1958) was an Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer, and academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, he was a key expedition leader during ...

charted a small point in this position and applied the name "Erratic Point" because of the large number of massive erratic boulders encountered there. The

Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition The Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE ) is the historical name for the Australian Antarctic Program (AAp) administered for Australia by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). History Australia has had a long involv ...

was unable to find any significant feature in this immediate area during their 1948 survey of the island, hence the name Erratic Point was retained by them for this small point.

References

External links

Map of Erratic Point and the northwestern coast of Heard IslandMap of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, including all major topographical features
Headlands of Heard Island and McDonald Islands {{Subantarctic-geo-stub