Part I: Seals teeth and whales ears - Scott Polar Research Institute ...

lack-ridged "helmet" between Marshall and Iceberg Bays, 3.5 miles from the
base. Shingle Cove, which was the site of the first depot we layed, is tucked in
behind Cape Hansen. Northwest of Iceberg Bay is Shattered Ridge, and beyond
that Mount Nivea (4154 ft), the most conspicuous and beautiful peak viewed
from Berntsen Point across the Sunshine Glacier. The Rime Crests rise
precipitately behind Reid Island, the eastern limit of Iceberg Bay, - so called
because, due to the frequent cloud cover, they are thickly covered in rime
deposits, with prominent ice bosses and fluted ice walls. (We called this section
Avalanche Corrie).
Rocky headlands divide glacier icefalls along the south coast: Amphibolite
Point, Saunders Point and Schist Point. Mount Noble (3817 ft) located near the
north coast of Coronation Island, looms over the range of nearer peaks. Finally
to the east of Signy, some 20 km across Orwell Sound is a rocky range known as
the Divide Peaks, the Divide itself, a narow cleft and a series of islands -
Matthews Island, Robertson Islands, Steepholm, Skilling and Atriceps Island,
fifteen miles from base. .
The western third of Coronation Island was not visible from our home,
hidden by the rugged ridge of Snow Hill, Jane Peak and Mount Robin. From any
of these hills one can see across Norway Bight to the graceful Sandefjord Peaks -
the Sandefjord Twins we called them - and beyond them on a clear day the
Inaccessible Islands. The Twins are the western termination of the rounded
Pomona Plateau. Nearer, in line with the Twins, Meier Point and the Gosling
Islands mark the western margin of Norway Bight. On the eastern shore of this
large bay is Mansfield Point, Steney Point and Cape Vik, which is the southern
extent of the Cragsmen Peaks (called by us the Cuillins) that run south from
Brisbane Heights.
Although the peaks of Coronation Island are not very high they rise steeply
from the level of the surrounding polar sea and, with their heavy glaciation and
the polar climate, are comparable to alpine peaks. On a clear day it presented a
breathtaking view which we never tired of. In summer the blue seas separating
us from Coronation Island, and the waters around our island home were packed
with a dense concentration of tabular icebergs and smaller bergs and bergy bits
of all shapes and sizes. They had drifted up in the current from the vast ice
shelves of the Weddell Sea that lay to the south. Reaching our island group they
had grounded in the shallower shelf waters, only the smaller ones penetrating
into inshore waters.
Most of the low-lying headlands and offshore islands on the south side of
Coronation Island, like the Signy coastal areas, were snow free in summer, and
have similar vegetation. But for the most part they lack penguin colonies and
elephant seal haul-outs (perhaps because the large glaciers make them colder);
the vegetation is correspondingly richer, especially on Lynch Island just west of
Cape Hansen.
Climate and sea ice. The climate is maritime and at least one of the summer
months has a mean sea level air temperature above freezing point. The mean
annual temperature is -3.8°C and the mean for the coldest winter month is
124