Thompson Island was a

phantom island A phantom island is a purported island which was included on maps for a period of time, but was later found not to exist. They usually originate from the reports of early sailors exploring new regions, and are commonly the result of navigati ...

in the

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe a ...

. It was thought to be about north-northeast of

Bouvet Island Bouvet Island ( ; or ''Bouvetøyen'') is an island claimed by Norway, and declared an uninhabited protected nature reserve. It is a subantarctic volcanic island, situated in the South Atlantic Ocean at the southern end of the Mid-Atlantic R ...

, a small Norwegian dependency between

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

and

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

History

The island was first reported and named by whaling ship

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

George Norris in 1825, supposedly the same day as sighting and landing on

, erroneously thinking the island to be undiscovered and naming it Liverpool Island. The last reported sighting was in 1893. When, however, the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

survey ship A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for underwater surveys, usually to collect data for mapping or planning underwater construction or mineral extraction. It is a type of research vessel, and may be designed for the pur ...

''Valdivia'' fixed the position of Bouvet in 1898, it then looked for Thompson, but did not find it. If Thompson ever existed, it is probable that it disappeared in a

volcanic eruption Several types of volcanic eruptions—during which lava, tephra (ash, lapilli, volcanic bombs and volcanic blocks), and assorted gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure—have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are oft ...

sometime in the 1890s, though in 1997 it was reported that the sea depth at the supposed location is greater than , rendering the existence of a

submarine volcano Submarine volcanoes are underwater vents or fissures in the Earth's surface from which magma can erupt. Many submarine volcanoes are located near areas of tectonic plate formation, known as mid-ocean ridges. The volcanoes at mid-ocean ri ...

all but impossible. Thompson Island continued to appear on maps published as late as 1943.

In fiction

* The climax of Geoffrey Jenkins' novel ''A Grue of Ice'' is set on Thompson Island. The author places the island south-southeast of

, explaining the position discrepancy by means of

light refraction In physics, refraction is the redirection of a wave as it passes from one medium to another. The redirection can be caused by the wave's change in speed or by a change in the medium. Refraction of light is the most commonly observed pheno ...

in Antarctic waters. * Thompson Island inspired the scenario for the novel ''La pell freda'' ('' Cold Skin'') by

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

writer

Albert Sánchez Piñol Albert Sánchez Piñol (; born 11 July 1965) is a Spanish anthropologist, non-fiction writer and novelist writing in Catalan and Spanish. He has been described as a "significant European writer". Theroux, Marcel (19 December 2005)"Cold Skin" ...

Notes

References

* Gaddis, Vincent (1965). ''Invisible Horizons''. Philadelphia: Chilton. * Stommel, Henry (1984). ''Lost Islands: The Story of Islands That Have Vanished from Nautical Charts''. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, pp 98–99. .

External links

Thompson Island
entry in the "Legends and Sea Stories" layer at BlooSee. Broken link Phantom islands of the Atlantic Phantom subantarctic islands Islands of the South Atlantic Ocean Volcanoes of the Southern Ocean Bouvet Island {{BouvetIsland-geo-stub

History

In fiction

See also

Notes

References

External links