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Palmer Land

(Encyclopedia)Palmer Land, part of the Antarctic Peninsula, W Antarctica. Named by Americans after Nathaniel Palmer, who explored the area in 1820, Palmer Land (or Palmer Peninsula) referred to the entire Antarctic...

Bellingshausen, Fabian Gottlieb von

(Encyclopedia)Bellingshausen, Fabian Gottlieb von fäbˈēən gôtˈlēp fôn bĕlˈĭngzhouˌzən [key], 1778–1852, Russian explorer, b. Sarema, Estonia. A graduate of the naval academy at Kronstadt, he commande...

Verkhoyansk

(Encyclopedia)Verkhoyansk vyĕrkhəyänskˈ [key], town, Sakha Republic, NE Siberian Russia, on the Yana River, near the Arctic Circle. A river port, a fur-collecting depot, and the center of a reindeer-raising are...

Antarctic Peninsula

(Encyclopedia)Antarctic Peninsula, glaciated mountain region of W Antarctica, extending c.1,200 mi (1,930 km) N toward South America. In the south, volcanic peaks rise to c.11,000 ft (3,350 m); other volcanic cones...

Graham Land

(Encyclopedia)Graham Land, part of the Antarctic Peninsula, W Antarctica. This ice-covered, mountainous area was thought to be a group of islands but further exploration (1934) showed it to be peninsular. Claimed b...

Little America

(Encyclopedia)Little America, base for Antarctic exploring expeditions, Antarctica, on the Ross Ice Shelf, S of the Bay of Whales. Richard E. Byrd, a U.S. explorer, established and named Little America in 1929 and ...

iceberg

(Encyclopedia)iceberg, mass of ice that has become detached, or calved, from the edge of an ice sheet or glacier and is floating on the ocean. Because ice is slightly less dense than water about one ninth of the to...

Ronne, Finn

(Encyclopedia)Ronne, Finn, 1899–1980, Norwegian-American Antarctic explorer. Ronne graduated from college in Norway in 1922 and immigrated to the United States. His first of nine Antarctic expeditions was with Ad...

Gerlache, Adrien de

(Encyclopedia)Gerlache, Adrien de ädrē-ăN də gĕrläshˈ [key], 1866–1934, Belgian naval officer and explorer. Sailing with Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen who would later be the first to reach the South Po...

oasis

(Encyclopedia)oasis ōāˈsĭs [key], an area within a desert where the water table reaches the surface, with enough moisture to permit the growth of vegetation. The water may come up to the surface in springs, or ...

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