Downshire cliffs
| Downshire cliffs | ||
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| location | Victoria Land , East Antarctica | |
| part of | Transantarctic Mountains | |
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| Coordinates | 71 ° 37 ′ S , 170 ° 36 ′ E | |
 Topographic map of the Adare Peninsula with the Downshire cliffs (right) |
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The Downshire-cliffs are a number of prominent and up to 2000 m high cliffs of basalt at the Borchgrevink Coast of the East Antarctic Victoria Land . They form a large part of the eastern side of the Adare Peninsula, which borders the Ross Sea .
The British polar explorer James Clark Ross gave a section of these cliffs the name Cape Downshire in 1841 as part of his Antarctic expedition (1839–1843) . Namesake is the British peer Arthur Blundell Sandys Trumbull Hill, 3rd Marquess of Downshire (1788-1845), a friend of the deputy expedition leader Francis Crozier . Ross' name could not be assigned geographically later, so it was transferred to the cliffs described here.
Web links
- Downshire Cliffs in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey (English)
- Downshire Cliffs on geographic.org