Spath Peninsula ( 64°21′S 56°55′W / 64.350°S 56.917°W / -64.350; -56.917) is an ice-free peninsula, 4.0 mi (6.5 km), forming the northeast extremity of Snow Hill Island. ^[1] Historic Nordenskjold's Hut, Antarctic Historic Site #28, is located on the west coast of the peninsula. ^[2] The Karlsen Cliffs form the peninsula's northwest coast. ^[3] Wickens Gully, a water-cut ravine, cuts into clay-rich rocks on the peninsula's east side. ^[4]

The peninsula has several distinct hills on it. Thyasira Hill is a distinctive hill within a group of smaller hills rising to about 60 m (200 ft) tall, 250–300 m (820–980 ft) south of Nordenskjold's Hut. ^[5] Tesore Hill rises about 160 m (520 ft) high on the east side of the peninsula. ^[6]

Naming

The peninsula and its features were named by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC) in 1995. The peninsula was named for Leonard Frank Spath (1882–1957), eminent UK paleontologist. ^[1] The cliffs and gully were named for Anders Karlsen, First Engineer on the Swedish Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04 and Professor Otto Wilckens, eminent German paleontologist, respectively. ^{[3] [4]} Thyasira Hill was named because of the abundance of the fossil bivalve mollusk Thyasira townsendi found in this area. ^[5] Tesore Hill is the English translation of the original Argentine name "Cerro Tesore". ^[6]

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Geological Survey.

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