Big Ben (Heard Island)
Australia · Oceania
About
Big Ben (previously known as Big Ben Peak, Old Ben Mountain, Emperor William Peak and Kaiser Wilhelm-Berg) is a volcanic massif that dominates the geography of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean. It is a stratovolcano with a diameter of about 25 km (16 mi). Its highest point is Mawson Peak, which is 2,745 m (9, 006 ft) above sea level. Much of it is covered by ice, including 14 major glaciers which descend from Big Ben to the sea. Big Ben is the highest mountain in Australian states and territories, except for the Australian Antarctic Territory. The Australian Antarctic Territory is a territorial claim unrecognised by most other countries, meaning that Big Ben is the highest mountain over which Australia has true sovereignty. A smaller volcanic headland, the Laurens Peninsula, extends about 10 km (6 mi) to the northwest, created by a separate volcano, Mount Dixon; its highest point is Anzac Peak, at 715 m (2, 346 ft). Big Ben was first summited on 25 January 1965 by five members of the Southern Indian Ocean Expedition to Heard Island (sometimes referred to as the Patanela expedition).
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.