PALMER LAND

broad southern part of the Antarctic Peninsula, about 400 miles (640 km) east of Peter I Island (in the Bellingshausen Sea), claimed by Britain as part of the British Antarctic Territory. It is named after its discoverer, Nathaniel Palmer, captain of a U.S. sealing vessel, who led an expedition to Antarctica in 1820. Palmer Land is mountainous, attaining elevations varying between 6,600 and 13,800 feet (2,000 and 4,200 m), and covered by thick glaciers except for its most precipitous peaks and cliffs, some of which form stretches of the coastline along the Weddell Sea. A number of minerals have been identified in Palmer Land, including magnetite, hematite, limonite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, and azurite, and traces of gold and silver have been discovered. The Siple research station (U.S.) is located in Palmer Land.