The island is mostly ice-covered except for a small rock outcrop and barely protrudes above the general level of the Publications Ice Shelf.

It was mapped by Norwegian cartographers from aerial photographs taken during the Lars Christensen Expedition, 1936–37, and was named "Debutante" in 1952 by John H. Roscoe because the island is just beginning to "come out" from under its ice cover.

[1] This article incorporates public domain material from "Debutante Island".

United States Geological Survey.

This Princess Elizabeth Land location article is a stub.