Buffer Island facts for kids
 Buffer Island
Location in Antarctica
Location in Antarctica
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| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Antarctica |
| Coordinates | 69°10′S 67°19′W / 69.167°S 67.317°W |
| Administration | |
| Administered under the Antarctic Treaty System | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | Uninhabited |
Buffer Island is a small island mostly covered in ice. It is located in Antarctica, a very cold continent at the bottom of the world. This island lies west of something called the Wordie Ice Shelf. It is about 17 kilometers (or 9 nautical miles) northwest of Mount Balfour, along the Fallières Coast.
Contents
Discovering Buffer Island
First Sightings from the Air
People first saw Buffer Island from airplanes in 1947. This happened during an exploration trip called the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition. This expedition used aircraft to photograph and map parts of Antarctica.
How Buffer Island Got Its Name
Later, in 1958, a group called the Falklands Islands Dependencies Survey explored and mapped the area more closely. The UK Antarctic Place-names Committee (UK-APC) first named it "Buffer Ice Rise." They chose this name because it seemed to block the flow of the nearby ice shelf. Think of it like a buffer that slows things down!
From Ice Rise to Island
Around 1999, the front edge of the Wordie Ice Shelf started to melt and move back. This revealed that what they thought was just an "ice rise" (a bump in the ice) was actually a separate island! So, the UK-APC changed its name to Buffer Island. This change showed that the land was no longer just a part of the ice, but a true island.
