Location Antarctica Highest elevation 365 m (1,198 ft) Max length 58 km | Width 13 km (8.1 mi) Elevation 365 m | |
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Hearst Island is an ice-covered, dome-shaped island lying 7 km (4 nmi) east of Cape Rymill, in the Weddell Sea, off the eastern coast of Palmer Land. The island is 67 km (36 nmi) long, in a north-south direction, 13 km (7 nmi) wide, and rises to 365 m (1,198 ft).
Map of Hearst, Antarctica
It was first sighted on a flight on December 20, 1928 by Sir Hubert Wilkins. Thinking it was part of the mainland of Antarctica, he named it Hearst Land, for William Randolph Hearst who helped finance the expedition. It was resighted and its insularity ascertained in 1940 by members of the USAS who explored this coast by land and from the air. They named it Wilkins Island. Examination of aerial photographs have shown, however, that this large island is what Wilkins considered Hearst Land.