How Many Volcanoes Are There On Ross Island?
Ross Island is situated off the coast of Antarctica and is one of the highest islands on Earth; the island was formed by volcanic activity and its area is 2460 sq km (950 sq miles). The island is situated in the Ross Sea in McMurdo Sound overlooking Victoria Land; the island was first sighted in 1841 by James Clark, a British explorer after whom the island was named in later times. The volcanoes situated on Ross Island are Mount Erebus (3794 m), Mount Terror and Mount Byrd; Mount Erebus is the southernmost active volcano on Earth while Terror and Byrd are extinct volcanoes. The volcanoes were named by Ross after his ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror while Mount Byrd was named after the famous American explorer Richard Byrd. The island was the starting point for many expeditions to explore the interior of the continent. Dinosaur fossils discovered on the island have provided further evidence in support of the continental drift theory.
