Shackleton Gap

Shackleton Gap is an ice-covered mountain pass rising to about 1,000 feet above sea level on the route between King Haakon Bay and Possession Bay.

It was named (in part) 'Shackleton-Gletscher' by the German South Georgia Expedition of 1930 after Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874-1922), who followed this feature in his epic crossing of South Georgia from King Haakon Bay to Stromness in May 1916, seeking rescue for his men marooned on distant Elephant Island.

The pass was named 'Shackleton Gap' following the South Georgia Survey of 1955-56.

Satellite imagery in 2003 showed that the western end of the glacier in the Gap had undergone considerable retreat leaving a proglacial lake at its snout.

Location

• Location map: 54°8’4"S, 37°12’9"W