Landmark in Antarctica named after AWI researcher
[18. August 2023]
During the last Antarctic season, British Polarstern expedition members Dr. Robert D. Larter and Dr. Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) discovered a new landmark in the Southern Ocean with one of the Polarstern helicopters. This cape is named in honour of the late AWI geologist Christian Hass.
![[Translate to English:] Aerial Hass Point](/fileadmin/_processed_/e/4/csm_P1033733_Headland_with_rock_outcrops_NW_Wirth_Peninsula_RobertLarter_f60a58df89.jpg "Aerial Hass Point")
The Polarstern team led by Dr. Johann Klages, geoscientist at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), decided to have the prominent headland named in honor of Dr. H. Christian Hass (former head of coastal geology at AWI Sylt). “Christian was a great colleague and good friend who tragically passed away far too early in the fall of 2020 after a short, serious illness,” says Johann Klages. He adds, “Christian, together with colleagues from BAS and myself, was one of the main authors of the proposal for the geological work of the PS134 expedition, which we were able to successfully accomplish last season.” The proposal to name the newly discovered headland on the coast of Eltanin Bay as “Hass Point” has now been positively reviewed by the UK Antarctic Place Names Committee and will thus be officially listed in the SCAR Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica, where geographic places are published.
![[Translate to English:] Karte des UK Place Name Committees](/fileadmin/_processed_/a/f/csm_APC_23_1st_Result_-_Hass_Point_Map_47d4489400.png "Map Hass Point UK Place Name Committee")