 George Sound within Antarctica | |
 Interactive map of George VI Sound | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Antarctica |
| Coordinates | 71°00′S68°00′W / 71.000°S 68.000°W /-71.000; -68.000 |
| Administration | |
| Administered under theAntarctic Treaty System | |
George VI Sound orCanal Jorge VI orCanal Presidente Sarmiento orCanal Seaver orKing George VI Sound orKing George the Sixth Sound is a majorbay/faultdepression, 300 miles (483 km) long and mainly covered by a permanent ice shelf. It is in the shape of the letter J without any upper bar. It lines the east and south shores ofAlexander Island, separating it from the vestigial, quite small,Wordie Ice Shelf andPalmer Land (the south-west of theAntarctic Peninsula) and the north-facing "English Coast". A quite central point of it is71°S68°W / 71°S 68°W /-71; -68.
Various lakes adjoin; these receive large amounts of melt ice from theGeorge VI Ice Shelf. These includeHodgson,Moutonee andAblation Lakes. Severalglaciers flow eastward into the sound from the east interior of Alexander Island, the vast majority of these glaciers are south ofPlanet Heights, where all of these glaciers are named aftermoons,satellites andplanets of theSolar System in the same vein as the Heights, named by theUnited Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC) in 1977.
The sound is largely covered by theGeorge VI Ice Shelf.Ice varies from about 15 miles (24 km) to more than 40 miles (64 km) wide. George VI Sound was discovered byLincoln Ellsworth who flew over it in 1935. The sound was explored by theBritish Graham Land Expedition (BGLE) in 1936–37 and by theUnited States Antarctic Service (USAS) in 1940. The sound was named byJohn Riddoch Rymill, leader of the BGLE, forGeorge VI,King of theUnited Kingdom and lastEmperor of India.
TheMcLaughlin Cliffs overlook George VI Sound betweenArmstrong Glacier andConchie Glacier.[1]
