Buffer Island Explained

Buffer Island
Map:Antarctica
Location:Antarctica
Population:Uninhabited
Country:None
Treaty System:Antarctic Treaty System

Buffer Island is a mostly ice-covered island lying west of the Wordie Ice Shelf, 9nmi northwest of Mount Balfour, Fallières Coast. The feature was photographed from aircraft by the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition in 1947. Following survey by the Falklands Islands Dependencies Survey in 1958 it was named "Buffer Ice Rise" by the UK Antarctic Place-names Committee (UK-APC) because it obstructed the northwestward flow of the ice shelf in this vicinity. The UK-APC amended the name to Buffer Island following a general eastward recession of the Wordie Ice Front in about 1999, which disclosed the feature to be an island.