Mount Terror, 3,230 metres (10,600 ft) about 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi) eastward, is an extinct volcano.

Signatories of this treaty essentially agree that Antarctica is used for peaceful and scientific purposes.

The United States and New Zealand each established bases, McMurdo and Scott, in the mid 1950s on Ross Island; the former is now the largest human settlement in Antarctica since its founding.

Ross Island, although an island surrounded by water, is essentially permanently connected to the main Antarctica land mass by a glacial ice sheet on its south and eastern side: it is only the sea ice in McMurdo sound that melts and re-freezes each year.

This area was discovered by Sir James Clark Ross in 1841, but he thought it formed part of the mainland of Victoria Land.

Huts built by Scott's and Shackleton's expeditions are still standing on the island, preserved as historical sites.

Greenpeace established World Park Base on the island and ran it for five years, from 1987 to 1992.

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