Stefansson Strait
| Stefansson Strait | ||
|---|---|---|
| Connects waters | Weddell Sea | |
| with water | Weddell Sea | |
| Separates land mass | Wilkins Coast , Palmerland , Antarctic Peninsula | |
| of land mass | Hearst Island | |
| Data | ||
| Geographical location | 69 ° 26 ′ S , 62 ° 25 ′ W | |
|
||
| length | 56 km | |
| Smallest width | 5 km | |
The Stefansson Strait (in the United Kingdom Stefansson Sound ) is an ice-filled strait between the Wilkins coast of the Palmerland and Hearst Island in the Weddell Sea .
It was first spotted by Hubert Wilkins during a flyover on December 20, 1928. Wilkins named it after the Canadian polar explorer Vilhjálmur Stefánsson in the belief that the strait separates the Antarctic Peninsula from the rest of the Antarctic land mass . Their actual orientation resulted in 1940 survey work in the United States Antarctic Service Expedition (1939-1941) on land and by air.
Web links
- Stefansson Strait in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey (English)
- Stefansson Strait on geographic.org (English)