Vahsel Bay

The Vahselbucht ( meanwhile Herzog- Ernst- Bay ) is a bay located between the west coast of Prince Regent Luitpold country and the eastern limit of the Filchner -Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The Vahselbucht has the mouth of the Weddell Sea, a stretch of 7 miles ( 11.3 km ) and a maximum depth of 10 miles ( 16.1 kilometers ). In the bay the Schweitzer Glacier and the Lerch field glacier flow.

Discovery history

The bay was discovered during the second German Antarctic Expedition (1911-1913) under Wilhelm Filchner. Filchner named it after Richard Vahsel (1868-1912), the captain of the expedition ship Germany. Vahsel died during the expedition. Filchner named them later in Herzog- Ernst- bay (after Ernst II of Saxe -Altenburg ) to after large parts of the surrounding ice had broken away and had formed thereby an even greater bay. However, this renaming prevailed not permanent.