Antarctica (novel)
Most of the story is centred on McMurdo Station, the largest settlement in Antarctica, which is run as a scientific research station by the United States. Robinson's characteristic multiple-protagonist style is employed here to show many aspects of polar life; among the viewpoints presented are those of X, an idealistic young man working as a General Field Assistant at McMurdo; Val, an increasingly embittered trek guide; and Wade Norton, who works for the Californian Senator Phil Chase (Wade and Phil also appear in the "Science in the Capital" trilogy). As well as McMurdo, the story involves the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, the Shackleton Glacier, the McMurdo Dry Valleys and a South American drilling platform near Roberts Massif.
Amsler Island
Amsler Island is located off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. It is named after American marine biologists Charles (Chuck) and Margaret (Maggie) Amsler of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The island is a triangular rocky plot of granite land approximately long and wide at its widest point. It was once thought to be part of a larger island known as Anvers Island because the gap between the islands was covered by the Marr Ice Piedmont. Rapid recession of the ice due to global warming revealed this as a separate island in 2004. The United States Board on Geographic Names chose this name in 2007 in recognition of the Amslers' three decades of research in the Anvers Island area. Amsler Island was the original site of the United States Antarctic Program research base Palmer Station from 1965 until the current station approximately away was constructed in 1968.