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Difference between revisions of "Wilkes Land"
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==Discovery and name== | ==Discovery and name== | ||
[[File:Commodore Charles Wilkes.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Charles Wilkes by Thomas Sully]] | [[File:Commodore Charles Wilkes.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Charles Wilkes by Thomas Sully]] | ||
Wilkes Land is named after Lieutenant Charles Wilkes (later a Rear Admiral), the American explorer who commanded the 1838–42 United States Exploring Expedition. The naming is in recognition of Wilkes' discovery of the continental margin over a distance of 2,400 km (1,500 miles) of coast, thus providing substantial proof that [[Antarctica]] is a continent. This definition of extent excludes the area east of 142°02' E, George V Land, which was sighted by Wilkes but has been shown by later expeditions to be further south than the positions originally assigned by him. | Wilkes Land is named after Lieutenant [[Charles Wilkes]] (later a Rear Admiral), the American explorer who commanded the 1838–42 United States Exploring Expedition. The naming is in recognition of Wilkes' discovery of the continental margin over a distance of 2,400 km (1,500 miles) of coast, thus providing substantial proof that [[Antarctica]] is a continent. This definition of extent excludes the area east of 142°02' E, George V Land, which was sighted by Wilkes but has been shown by later expeditions to be further south than the positions originally assigned by him. | ||
==In popular culture== | ==In popular culture== | ||