| Clarence Island | |
| Image Map Caption: | Location of Clarence Island |
| Pushpin Map: | South Shetland Islands##Antarctica |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in the South Shetland Islands##Location in Antarctica |
| Location: | Antarctica |
| Archipelago: | South Shetland Islands |
| Area Km2: | 114.6 |
| Length Km: | 21.46 |
| Highest Mount: | Mount Irving |
| Elevation M: | 1950 |
| Population: | 0 |
| Country: | None |
| Treaty System: | Antarctic Treaty System |
Clarence Island (ru|остров Шишкова) is the easternmost island in the South Shetland Islands, off the coast of Antarctica. It is claimed by Argentina as part of Argentine Antarctica, by Britain as part of the British Antarctic Territory, and by Chile as part of the Chilean Antarctic Territory. The name dates back to at least 1820 and is now established in international usage, except for Russia, where it has been known as Shishkova Island since its discovery by the First Russian Antarctic Expedition in 1821.
The island is 21.46km (13.33miles) long and oriented in a south-southwest to north-northeast direction. Ravelin Ridge and Urda Ridge occupy the interior of the mountainous island. The summit Mount Irving, 19500NaN0 high,[1] [2] rises 6.675km (04.148miles) north of Cape Bowles, the southernmost point. The southeast slopes of the two ridges are drained by Dobrodan, Highton, Treskavets, Orcho, and Banari Glaciers, and their northwest slopes — by Skaplizo, Giridava, and Bersame Glaciers. There are two small islands just east of Clarence Island, the northern one is named Sugarloaf Island. Chinstrap Cove lies on the northwest coast of the island, while Istros Bay, Smith Cove, and Kutela Cove lie on its southeast side.[3]
Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition observed and considered landing on Clarence Island after escaping the pack ice of the Weddell Sea but instead landed on the nearby Elephant Island. The high point on Clarence Island was reached by members of the Joint Services Elephant Island Expedition in 1970, which also completed a survey of Elephant and Clarence Island.[4]