Aspis Island is a small, low lying ice-free island rising to 15 metres (49.2 ft), easternmost in the Dunbar group

Dunbar Islands

Dunbar Islands is a small group of islands lying southwest of Williams Point, the northeast extremity of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica comprising three islands: Balsha Island, Zavala Island and Aspis Island, and several minor islets and rocks...

 off the northwest coast of Varna Peninsula

Varna Peninsula

Varna Peninsula is a roughly rectangular predominantly ice-covered peninsula forming the northeast extremity of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica...

, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands

South Shetland Islands

The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands, lying about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, with a total area of . By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the Islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for...

, Antarctica.

The feature is named after the Aspis, a small musical dragon

Dragon

A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...

, often portrayed in medieval literature.

Location

Aspis Island is centred at 62°27′54.5"S 60°08′59.1"W which is 520 m (568.7 yd) west by north of Gargoyle Bastion

Gargoyle Bastion

Gargoyle Bastion is a rocky headland rising to 60 m on the northwest coast of Varna Peninsula, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica and forming the south side of the entrance to Hydra Cove and the northeast side of the entrance to Griffin Cove...

, 670 m (732.7 yd) north of Organpipe Point

Organpipe Point

Organpipe Point is a prominent east-west trending headland rising to about 60 or 70 m on the northwest coast of Varna Peninsula, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica and forming the north side of the entrance to Charybdis Cove and the southwest side of the entrance to Griffin...

, 800 m (874.9 yd) northeast of Zavala Island

Zavala Island

Zavala Island is an ice-free island in the Dunbar group off the northwest coast of Varna Peninsula on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. It is extending , with surface area...

 and 1.59 km (0.987982651273193 mi) south-southwest of Williams Point

Williams Point

Williams Point is the point forming both the north extremity of Varna Peninsula and the northeast tip of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica...

 (British mapping in 1968, and Bulgarian in 2005 and 2009).

Maps

• L.L. Ivanov et al. Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich Island, South Shetland Islands. Scale 1:100000 topographic map. Sofia: Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, 2005.
• L.L. Ivanov. Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich, Robert, Snow and Smith Islands. Scale 1:120000 topographic map. Troyan: Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2009. ISBN 978-954-92032-6-4

See also

• Composite Antarctic Gazetteer
• List of Antarctic islands south of 60° S
• SCAR
  Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
  The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research is an interdisciplinary body of the International Council for Science . It was established in February 1958 to continue the international coordination of Antarctic scientific activities that had begun during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58...
  
  
• Territorial claims in Antarctica

External links

• SCAR Composite Antarctic Gazetteer.