MCMURDO SOUND

bay off Antarctica that forms the western extension of Ross Sea, lying at the edge of Ross Ice Shelf, west of Ross Island and east of Victoria Land. The channel, 92 miles (148 km) long and up to 46 miles (74 km) wide, has been a major centre for Antarctic explorations. First discovered in 1841 by the Scottish explorer Sir James Clark Ross, it thereafter served as one of the main access routes to the Antarctic continent. Along its shores, on Ross Island, the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott established his headquarters. That site later served as the main base for the expedition (1908) of another British explorer, Ernest Henry Shackleton, and from the 1950s it and several locations on Victoria Land served as scientific-research stations operated by the United States and New Zealand.