James Ross Island is a large island off the southeast side and near the northeastern extremity of the Antarctic Peninsula, from which it is separated by Prince Gustav Channel. Rising to 1,630 metres (5,350 ft), it is irregularly shaped and extends 40 nautical miles (74 km; 46 mi) in a north–south direction.
Location
James Ross Island is separated from Trinity Peninsula, at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula to the northwest, by the Prince Gustav Channel. Vega Island is to the north of the island, separated from James Ross Island by the Herbert Sound. Erebus and Terror Gulf is to the northeast. Seymour Island and Snow Hill Island are to the southeast. It is in the James Ross Island group. The island was connected to the Antarctic mainland by an ice shelf until 1995, when the ice shelf collapsed, making the Prince Gustav Channel passable for the first time. Mendel Polar Station, the first Czech Antarctic Base, is located on the island.
Exploration and name James Ross Island was charted in October 1903 by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition (SwedAE) under Otto Nordenskiöld, who named it for Sir James Clark Ross, the leader of a British expedition to this area in 1842 that discovered and roughly charted a number of points along the eastern side of the island. The style, "James" Ross Island is used to avoid confusion with the more widely known Ross Island in McMurdo Sound.
Paleontology Two dinosaur-bearing formations are present on the island, both from the Upper Cretaceous: the Santa Marta Formation and the Snow Hill Island Formation. These are two of only three known formations to have dinosaur fossils in Antarctica. The first dinosaur discovered in Antarctica was Antarctopelta oliveroi, a medium-sized ankylosaur found on James Ross Island by Argentinian geologists Eduardo Olivero and Roberto Scasso in 1986. The dinosaur was recovered from the Campanian stage of the Upper Cretaceous Santa Marta Formation, about 2 km (1.2 mi) south of Santa Marta Cove on the north part of the island. The ankylosaur was not formally named until 2006. In December 2003, U.S. paleontologist Judd Case from Saint Mary's College of California and U.S. geologist James Martin from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology discovered the bones of a theropod dinosaur on the island. Nicknamed "Naze" after the northerly Naze Peninsula on which it was found, the Late Cretaceous remains include an upper jaw and teeth, and most of the lower legs and feet. Little information is available, but the shape of the leg and feet indicate it was a runner. In 2019, it was given the name Imperobator antarcticus. It was large, about the size of Utahraptor. It is the second Antarctic theropod discovered, after Cryolophosaurus. An ornithopod was found in the Snow Hill Island Formation by Argentine paleontologists Rodolfo Aníbal Coria and Juan José Moly in 2008. In 2013, Coria named it Trinisaura santamartaensis. In 2015, an iguanodontid found in 2002 by Fernando Novas was named Morrosaurus antarcticus by Sebastian Rozadilla, Federico Lisandro Agnolin, Fernando Emilio Novas, Alexis Rolando Aranciaga Mauro, Matthew J. Motta, Juan Manuel Lirio Marcelo and Pablo Isasi. The genus name refers to the site of El Morro on James Ross Island, where the remains of the species were found. The specific name refers to Antarctica.
Notable features Notable features, clockwise from the west, include:
Ulu Peninsula (63°56′S 58°5′W) is that portion of James Ross Island northwest of the narrow neck of land between Rohss Bay and Croft Bay, extending from Cape Obelisk to Cape Lachman. Croft Bay (64°0′S 57°45′W) is a bay which indents the north-central side of James Ross Island and forms the southern part of Herbert Sound. The Naze (63°57′S 57°32′W) is a peninsula in north James Ross Island, marking the southeast entrance to Herbert Sound and extending about 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) northeast from Terrapin Hill toward the south-central shore of Vega Island. Markham Bay (64°17′S 57°18′W) is a bay 8 nautical miles (15 km; 9.2 mi) wide, lying between Ekelöf Point and Hamilton Point on the east side of James Ross Island. Mount Haddington (64°13′S 57°38′W is a mountain, 1,630 metres (5,350 ft) high, surmounting the central part of James Ross Island. Röhss Bay (64°12′S 58°16′W) is a bay 11 nautical miles (20 km; 13 mi) wide, between Cape Broms and Cape Obelisk on the southwest side of James Ross Island.
Northeast features From west to east
Flett Buttress 64°07′S 57°49′W. A rock crag rising to 905 metres (2,969 ft) high northwest of Mount Haddington. It provides the highest exposure of volcanic rock on the island. Named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC) in 1987 after William R. Flett, geologist on Operation Tabarin at Deception Island (Base Leader), 1943–44, and Hope Bay, 1944–45.
Förster Cliffs 64°01′S 57°33′W. Cliffs located east-northeast of Stark Point, running east–west for 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) and rising to 550 metres (1,800 ft) high in northern James Ross Island. Named by the UK-APC in 1987 after Reinhard Förster (1935–87), West German geologist from LMU Munich, who was a member of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) field party to the area, 1985–86.
Skep Point 64°03′S 57°18′W. A high ice-free point 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) west-northwest of Ula Point on the northeast coast of James Ross Island. Surveyed by Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS) first in 1945, then again in 1953. The UK-APC name is descriptive; when viewed from seaward the feature resembles a skep type beehive.
Ula Point 64°05′S 57°09′W. A low ice-covered point on the northeast coast of James Ross Island, 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) northwest of Cape Gage. First seen and roughly surveyed by SwedAE, 1901–04, under Otto Nordenskjold. Resurveyed by FIDS in 1945. Named by UK-APC for Anton Olsen Ula, boatswain on the Antarctic the ship of the above Swedish expedition.
Coley Glacier 69°09′S 57°14′W. A glacier, 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) long, on the east side of James Ross Island. It flows into Erebus and Terror Gulf just north of Cape Gage. Surveyed by FIDS in 1945 and 1953. Named by UK-APC for John A. Coley of FIDS, meteorological assistant at Hope Bay in 1952 and 1953.
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