Usnea Plug is a volcanic plug

Volcanic plug

A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcanic landform created when magma hardens within a vent on an active volcano. When forming, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of pressure if volatile-charged magma is trapped beneath it, and this can sometimes lead to an...

, 30 m from base to summit, rising to 117 m in the interior of Byers Peninsula

Byers Peninsula

Byers Peninsula is a mainly ice-free peninsula forming the west end of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands. It occupies , and includes the small freshwater Basalt Lake. The area was visited by early 19th century American and British sealers who came almost exclusively from New England,...

, 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 area was known to 19th century sealers

Seal hunting

Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. The hunt is currently practiced in five countries: Canada, where most of the world's seal hunting takes place, Namibia, the Danish region of Greenland, Norway and Russia...

.

The feature’s name derives from the genus of lichen

Lichen

Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...

, Usnea

Usnea

Usnea is the generic and scientific name for several species of lichen in the family Parmeliaceae, that generally grow hanging from tree branches, resembling grey or greenish hair. It is sometimes referred to commonly as Old Man's Beard, Beard Lichen, or Treemoss...

, prevalent on the plug and in this vicinity, and results from geological work by an American field party in early 1969.

Location

The hill is located at 62°38′30"S 61°05′43.1"W which is 790 m southwest of Chester Cone

Chester Cone

Chester Cone is the ice-free peak rising to 188 m in the central part of Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica surmounting Midge Lake to the northwest....

, 3.47 km north of Nikopol Point

Nikopol Point

Nikopol Point is a snow-free point on the south coast of Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica projecting 650 m into Bransfield Strait and linked by a spit to Vietor Rock to the south...

, 5.54 km northeast of Devils Point

Devils Point

Devils Point is a point marking the southwest extremity of Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica and forming the southeast side of the entrance to Osogovo Bay and the west side of the entrance to Raskuporis Cove...

 and 2.77 km east by south of Laager Point

Laager Point

Laager Point is a conspicuous headland extending out from President Beaches on Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica and forming a southeast entrance point for New Plymouth harbour and a northeast entrance point for Osogovo Bay...

 (British mapping in 1968, detailed Spanish mapping in 1992, and Bulgarian mapping in 2005 and 2009).

Maps

• Península Byers, Isla Livingston. Mapa topográfico a escala 1:25000. Madrid: Servicio Geográfico del Ejército, 1992.
• 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