The icy panorama of Ross Island in Antarctica is featured on this Copernicus Sentinel-2 picture from 3 February 2024, in the course of the austral summer season.
Zoom in to discover this picture at its full 10 m decision or click on on the circles to study extra.
In keeping with the orientation of the picture, the geographic South Pole could be round 1350 km from the highest of the picture.
Ross Island, protecting round 2460 sq km, lies in Jap Antarctica on the fringe of the huge Ross Ice Shelf, a small fraction of which is seen within the higher a part of the picture. The island was named after the British explorer Sir James Clark Ross, who found it in 1841 throughout his quest for the magnetic South Pole.
4 volcanoes type the island: Mount Fowl, Mount Terra Nova, Mount Terror and Mount Erebus. Two may be seen clearly within the picture: Mount Terror is on the left and Mount Erebus, the most important, is on the fitting.
Although its title suggests in any other case, Mount Terror just isn’t as ominous as it’d sound. Sir James Clark Ross named each Mount Terror and Mount Erebus after his ships, the HMS Terror and the HMS Erebus, of the 1841 expedition.
Mount Erebus continues to be lively and is considered the southernmost lively volcano on the earth. Standing at 3276 m, it’s the tallest peak on the island and can be one of some volcanoes on the earth that include an lively lava lake. The caldera kinds a plateau on the summit of the volcano, the place two craters may be noticed. Whereas the smaller crater is inactive, the principle crater holds a smaller, interior crater the place the lava lake is situated.
The jagged edges of the Erebus ice tongue may be seen stretching out into McMurdo Sound. The ice tongue is the forefront of a glacier that originates from the volcano’s slopes.
Ross Island can be one among Antarctica’s most necessary centres for scientific analysis. Each the US McMurdo Station and the New Zealand Scott Base are on the excessive tip of the lengthy and slender Hut Level Peninsula, seen within the higher a part of the picture.