Charcot Island or Charcot Land is an island administered under the Antarctic Treaty System, long and wide, which is ice covered except for prominent mountains overlooking the north coast. Charcot Island lies within the
Bellingshausen Sea
The Bellingshausen Sea is an area along the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula between 57°18'W and 102°20'W, west of Alexander Island, east of Cape Flying Fish on Thurston Island, and south of Peter I Island (there the southern ''Vostokkyst ...
, west of
Alexander Island
Alexander Island, which is also known as Alexander I Island, Alexander I Land, Alexander Land, Alexander I Archipelago, and Zemlja Alexandra I, is the largest island of Antarctica. It lies in the Bellingshausen Sea west of Palmer Land, Antarc ...
, and about north of
Latady Island. A notable landmark of the island is its northernmost point,
Cape Byrd.
History
Charcot Island was discovered on 11 January 1910 by the French Antarctic Expedition under
Jean-Baptiste Charcot
Jean-Baptiste-Étienne-Auguste Charcot (15 July 1867 – 16 September 1936), born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, was a French scientist, medical doctor and polar scientist. His father was the neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–1893).
Life
Jean-Bap ...
, who, at the insistence of his crew and the recommendation of
Edwin S. Balch and others, named it Charcot Land. He did so with the stated intention of honoring his father,
Jean-Martin Charcot
Jean-Martin Charcot (; 29 November 1825 – 16 August 1893) was a French neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology. He worked on hypnosis and hysteria, in particular with his hysteria patient Louise Augustine Gleizes. Charcot is know ...
, a famous French physicia
The insularity of Charcot Land was proved by Sir
Hubert Wilkins
Sir George Hubert Wilkins MC & Bar (31 October 188830 November 1958), commonly referred to as Captain Wilkins, was an Australian polar explorer, ornithologist, pilot, soldier, geographer and photographer. He was awarded the Military Cross afte ...
, who flew around it on 29 December 1929.
2009 Collapse of ice bridge
The ice bridge holding the
Wilkins Ice Shelf to the Antarctic coastline and Charcot Island was long but only wide at its narrowest point – in 1950 it was It shattered in April 2009 over an area measuring . The ice bridge collapsed rapidly, turning into hundreds of icebergs.
See also
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Composite Antarctic Gazetteer
The Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica (CGA) of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is the authoritative international gazetteer containing all Antarctic toponyms published in national gazetteers, plus basic information about ...
*
List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands
*
List of Antarctic islands south of 60° S
*
SCAR
A scar (or scar tissue) is an area of fibrous tissue that replaces normal skin after an injury. Scars result from the biological process of wound repair in the skin, as well as in other organs, and tissues of the body. Thus, scarring is a ...
*
Territorial claims in Antarctica
Seven sovereign states – Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom – have made eight territorial claims in Antarctica. These countries have tended to place their Antarctic scientific observation and st ...
References
{{Authority control
British Antarctic Territory
Islands of Antarctica