Geography
Thule Island is approximately triangular in shape and 5.5 square miles (14 km2) in area with a 3 km (1.9 mi) long, panhandle-like peninsula extending to the southeast. Steep slopes ascend to a 1.5 by 2 km (0.93 by 1.2 mi) summit caldera with the peak of Mount Larsen at 710 m (2,329 ft) above sea level. Mount Larsen is named after the Antarctic explorer and whaler Carl Anton Larsen. Off the southeastern tip lies the small islet of Twitcher Rock, the southernmost land on Earth except for Antarctica and offshore islands considered part of Antarctica.
Thule Island lies close to Cook Island and Bellingshausen Island. It is thought that Thule and Cook may have been a larger single island in the past, and there is evidence for a submerged crater between the two. Steam from the summit crater lake and ash on the flank was reported in 1962. Volcanic heat keeps the crater on Thule Island free from ice. The peak elevation is 3,525 feet (1,074 m).
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