An island that would vanish if you melted its ice cap

Countries & Cities · Published 30 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Berkner Island is not land in the traditional sense. It is a massive Antarctic ice rise, a dome formed where bedrock sits below sea level. If the ice were removed, the entire feature would disappear beneath the ocean. It is a frozen, shifting landscape that serves as a gateway for explorers.

Located within the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, Berkner Island is a sprawling, ice-covered expanse measuring approximately 320 kilometers long and 150 kilometers wide. Its existence is defined by the interaction between the ice sheet and the submerged bedrock below. The island is characterized by two distinct domes: the northern Reinwarthhöhe, reaching 698 meters, and the southern Thyssenhöhe, which rises to 869 meters. These features effectively divide the Ronne Ice Shelf from the Filchner Ice Shelf, creating a complex geography that has drawn significant scientific interest.

The island was first discovered during the 1957–1958 International Geophysical Year by a party from Ellsworth Station. It was subsequently named in honor of Lloyd Berkner, an American physicist and engineer who participated in the 1928–1930 Byrd Antarctic Expedition. Beyond its geological significance, the island has become a critical site for climate research. In the 1994–1995 season, international teams began drilling ice cores to study the region's history. A major milestone occurred between 2002 and 2005, when researchers drilled a 948-meter core through to the bedrock at Thyssenhöhe, later confirming the presence of the Raymond Effect through radar surveys in 2005 and 2010–2011.

Today, Berkner Island serves as a strategic starting point for ambitious polar expeditions, including Henry Worsley’s 2015–2016 attempt to traverse the Antarctic. The island also supports unique biological life; a site just north of the island’s northwestern coast hosts an emperor penguin colony. Satellite imagery from 2009 estimated this population at approximately 8,000 birds. Despite its harsh environment, the island remains a focal point for both human endurance and scientific inquiry, sitting at the center of overlapping territorial claims by Argentina and the United Kingdom.

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