Hearst Island
| Hearst Island | |
| Location | |
| Location: | 69°27’0"S, 62°3’58"W |
| Area: | 336 square miles |
| Data | |
Hearst Island is an ice-covered, dome-shaped island in the British Antarctic Territory lying 4 nautical miles east of Cape Rymill, in the Weddell Sea. It is separated from the Wilkins Coast, part of the east coast of Palmer Land, by Stefansson Sound.
The island is 36 nautical miles long, in a north-south direction, 7 nautical miles wide, and rises to 1,200 feet above sea level.
The island was first sighted on a flight on 20 December 1928 by Sir Hubert Wilkins. Thinking it was part of the mainland of Antarctica, he named it 'Hearst Land', for William Randolph Hearst, the American newspaper publisher and editor, who helped finance the expedition. The land was rephotographed from the air and surveyed from the ground by the United States Antarctic Service in September-December 1940, but it was not recognized as Hearst Land since it was found to be an island: the United States Antarctic Service named it 'Wilkins Island'. Subsequent comparison of Wilkins' photographs with the United States Antarctic Service photographs proved that Wilkins' 'Hearst Land' and the United States Antarctic Service's 'Wilkins Island' referred to the same feature, which was accordingly renamed 'Hearst Island'.
The island was re-surveyed by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey-the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition from `Stonington Island` in November 1947.
References
- Gazetteer and Map of The British Antarctic Territory: Hearst Island