The Debenham Islands () are a group of islands and rocks lying between

Millerand Island Millerand Island is a high rugged island in diameter, lying south of Cape Calmette, off the west coast of Graham Land. It was discovered by the French Antarctic Expedition (1908-1910) under Jean-Baptiste Charcot, who thought that it was a ca ...

and the west coast of

Graham Land Graham Land is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula that 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 ...

, Antarctica.

Location

The Debenham Islands are in

Marguerite Bay Marguerite Bay or Margaret Bay is an extensive bay on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula, which is bounded on the north by Adelaide Island and on the south by Wordie Ice Shelf, George VI Sound and Alexander Island. The mainland coast on th ...

on the

Fallières Coast The Fallières Coast is that portion of the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula between the head of Bourgeois Fjord and Cape Jeremy and lies on Marguerite Bay and the Wordie Ice Shelf. On the south it is joined by Rymill Coast, and in the nor ...

of the

Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martin in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctica. ...

. They are south of

Cape Calmette Cape Calmette () is a cape marking the western extremity of a rocky peninsula which rises more than and projects from the west coast of Graham Land for to form the southern shore of Calmette Bay. It was discovered in 1909 by the French Antarctic ...

, north of

and west of the mouth of

Northeast Glacier Northeast Glacier () is a steep, heavily crevassed glacier, long and wide at its mouth, which flows from McLeod Hill westward and then south-westwards into Marguerite Bay between the Debenham Islands and Roman Four Promontory, on the west coast ...

. The Argentinian

San Martín Base San Martín Base () is a permanent, all year-round Argentine Antarctic base and scientific research station named after General José de San Martín, the Libertador of Argentina, Chile and Peru. It is located on Barry Island, Marguerite Bay, Anta ...

is located on

Barry Island Barry Island () is a district, peninsula and seaside resort, forming part of the town of Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. It is named after the 6th century Saint Baruc. Barry's stretch of coast, on the Bristol Channel, has the wor ...

Discovery and name

The Debenham Islands were discovered and named by the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE) (1934–37) under

John Rymill John Riddoch Rymill (13 March 1905 – 7 September 1968) was an Australian polar explorer, who had the rare second clasp added to his Polar Medal. Early life Rymill was born at Penola, South Australia, the second son of Robert Rymill (7 J ...

. The BGLE base was on Barry Island, in the center of the group, during part of this time. They were named for

Frank Debenham Frank Debenham, Order of the British Empire, OBE (26 December 1883 – 23 November 1965) was Emeritus Professor of Geography at the Department of Geography, Cambridge, Department of Geography, Cambridge University and first director of the Scot ...

, who served as a member of the BGLE Advisory Committee.

Powell Channel

. A narrow channel between

and the Debenham Islands. Named by the

UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee The UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (or UK-APC) is a United Kingdom government committee, part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, responsible for recommending names of geographical locations within the British Antarctic Territory (BAT) an ...

(UK-APC) for Lieutenant John M. Powell, RN, who surveyed the channel in 1972.

Islands

Barbara Island

. The largest and northernmost of the Debenham Islands. Discovered by the BGLE, 1934-37, under Rymill, and named by him for a daughter of Frank Debenham.

Ann Island

. An island lying southeast of Barbara Island, off the west coast of Graham Land. Discovered by the BGLE, 1934-37, under Rymill, and named by him for a daughter of Frank Debenham.

Barry Island

. An island lying in the center of the Debenham Islands, off the west coast of Graham Land. Charted by the BGLE under Rymill, who used this island for a base in 1936 and 1937. Named by Rymill for the eldest son of Frank Debenham.

Brian Island

. The westernmost of the Debenham Islands. Charted by the BGLE, 1934-37, under Rymill, who named it for a son of Frank Debenham.

Audrey Island

. The southernmost island in the Debenham Islands, off the west coast of Graham Land. Discovered by the BGLE, 1934-37, under Rymill, and named by him for a daughter of Frank Debenham.

June Island

. An island in the Debenham Islands lying close southwest of Audrey Island. Discovered and charted by the BGLE, 1934-37, under Rymill, who named it for a daughter of Frank Debenham.

References

Sources

* * * {{Include-USGov , agency=United States Geological Survey Islands of Graham Land Fallières Coast