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Livingston Island
Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetland Islands, South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60° south latitude in 1819, a historic event that marked the end of a centuries-long pursuit of the mythical Terra Australis, ''Terra Australis Incognita'' and the beginning of the exploration and utilization of real Antarctica. The name Livingston, although of unknown derivation, has been well established in international usage since the early 1820s. Geography Livingston Island is situated in West Antarctica, northwest of Cape Roquemaurel on the Antarctic mainland, south-southeast of Cape Horn in South America, southeast of the Diego Ramírez Islands (the southernmost land of South America), due south of the Falkland Islands, southwest of South Georgia Islands, and fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe, and has an area of . Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average thickness of . Antarctica is, on average, the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and it has the highest average elevation. It is mainly a polar desert, with annual Climate of Antarctica#Precipitation, precipitation of over along the coast and far less inland. About 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen in Antarctica, which, if melted, would raise global sea levels by almost . Antarctica holds the record for the Lowest temperature recorded on Earth, lowest measured temperature on Earth, . The coastal regions can reach temperatures over in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Roquemaurel
Bone Bay () is a rectangular bay along the northwest coast of Trinity Peninsula, Antarctica. It is nearly wide at the entrance between Notter Point and Cape Roquemaurel. Location Bone Bay is on the north shore of the western end of the Trinity Peninsula, which forms the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. It is northeast of Charcot Bay, east of the Orléans Strait, south of Astrolabe Island and southwest of Lafond Bay. Russell West Glacier flows into the bay, which is bounded to the south by the Gavin Ice Piedmont. Copernix satellite view Exploration and name Bone Bay was charted by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS) in 1948. It was named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC) after Thomas M. Bone, midshipman on the brig ''Williams'' used in exploring the South Shetland Islands and Bransfield Strait in 1820. Coastal features Coastal features, from west to east, include: Belitsa Peninsula . The wide peninsula projecting in northwest direction fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Island
Robert Island or Mitchells Island or Polotsk Island or Roberts Island is an island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ... long and wide, situated between Nelson Island (South Shetland Islands), Nelson Island and Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Robert Island is located at . Its surface area is . The name "Robert Island" dates back to around 1821 and is now established in international usage. Much of the Coppermine Peninsula in the west of the island is made up by a perched strandflat erosion surface, surface that was at sea level in the past. Captain Richard Fildes may have named Robert Island for his brig . Fildes was seal hunting, sealing in the South Shetlands in 1821–1822 until ice destroyed his vessel in March 1822. Fildes Strait is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nelson Island (South Shetland Islands)
Nelson Island (historical names ''Leipzig Island'', ''O'Cain's Island'' and ''Strachans Island'') SCAR Composite Antarctic Gazetteer. is an long and wide, lying southwest of King George Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The name Nelson Island dates back to at least 1821 and is now established in international usage. The Eco-Nelson statio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King George Island (Antarctica)
King George Island ( Argentinian Spanish: Isla 25 de Mayo, Chilean Spanish: Isla Rey Jorge, Russian: Ватерло́о Vaterloo) is the largest of the South Shetland Islands, lying off the coast of Antarctica in the Southern Ocean. The island was named after King George III. Geography King George island has three major bays, Maxwell Bay, Admiralty Bay, and King George Bay. Admiralty Bay contains three fjords, and is protected as an Antarctic Specially Managed Area under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. The Fildes Peninsula, long, forms the SW extremity of the island. It was named from association with nearby Fildes Strait by the UK-APC in 1960. History Chilean scientists have claimed that Amerinds visited the area, citing stone artifacts recovered from bottom-sampling operations in Admiralty Bay; however, the artifacts—two arrowheads—were later found to have been planted. The island was first claimed for Britain on 16 Oct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elephant Island
Elephant Island is an ice-covered, mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean. The island is situated north-northeast of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, west-southwest of South Georgia, south of the Falkland Islands, and southeast of Cape Horn. It is within the Antarctic claims of Argentina, Chile and the United Kingdom. The Brazilian Antarctic Program maintains a shelter on the island, Goeldi, and formerly had another ( Wiltgen) supporting the work of up to six researchers each during the summer. Wiltgen was dismantled in the summers of 1997 and 1998. Toponym Elephant Island's name is attributed to both its elephant head-like appearance and the sighting of elephant seals by Captain George Powell in 1821, one of the earliest sightings. In Russia, it is still known by the name given by its discoverers in 1821 – Mordvinov Island. Geography Elephant Island marks the western end of the So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clarence Island (South Shetland Islands)
Clarence Island () is the easternmost island in the South Shetland Islands, off the coast of Antarctica. It is claimed by Argentina as part of Argentine Antarctica, by Britain as part of the British Antarctic Territory, and by Chile as part of the Chilean Antarctic Territory. The name dates back to at least 1820 and is now established in international usage, except for Russia, where it has been known as Shishkova Island since its discovery by the First Russian Antarctic Expedition in 1821. The island is long and oriented in a south-southwest to north-northeast direction. Ravelin Ridge and Urda Ridge occupy the interior of the mountainous island. The summit Mount Irving, high, rises north of Cape Bowles, the southernmost point. The southeast slopes of the two ridges are drained by Dobrodan, Highton, Treskavets, Orcho, and Banari Glaciers, and their northwest slopes — by Skaplizo, Giridava, and Bersame Glaciers. There are two small islands just east of Claren ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drake Passage
The Drake Passage is the body of water between South America's Cape Horn, Chile, Argentina, and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It connects the southwestern part of the Atlantic Ocean (Scotia Sea) with the southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean and extends into the Southern Ocean. The passage is named after the 16th-century English explorer and privateer Sir Francis Drake. The Drake Passage is considered one of the most treacherous voyages for ships to make. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current, which runs through it, meets no resistance from any landmass, and waves top , giving it a reputation for being "the most powerful convergence of seas". As the Drake Passage is the narrowest passage (choke point) around Antarctica, its existence and shape strongly influence the circulation of water around Antarctica and the global oceanic circulation, as well as the global climate. The bathymetry of the Drake Passage plays an important role in the global mixing of oceanic water ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bransfield Strait
Bransfield Strait or Fleet Sea () is a body of water about wide extending for in a general northeast – southwest direction between the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. History The strait was named in about 1825 by James Weddell, Master, Royal Navy, for Edward Bransfield, Master, RN, who charted the South Shetland Islands in 1820. It is called ''Mar de la Flota'' by Argentina. On 23 November 2007, the MS ''Explorer'' struck an iceberg and sank in the strait; all 154 passengers were rescued and no injuries were reported. Description The undersea trough through the strait is known as Bransfield Trough (). The basin is about 400 km long and 2 km deep, between the South Shetland Island Arc and the Antarctic Peninsula. It was formed by rifting behind the islands, which began about 4 million years ago. Ongoing rifting has caused recent earthquakes and volcanism. The Strait hosts a chain of submerged seamounts of volcanic origin, including the p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is the point in the Southern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True South Pole to distinguish from the south magnetic pole. The South Pole is by definition the southernmost point on the Earth, lying antipode (geography), antipodally to the North Pole. It defines geodetic latitude 90° South, as well as the direction of true south. At the South Pole all directions point North; all lines of longitude converge there, so its longitude can be defined as any degree value. No time zone has been assigned to the South Pole, so any time can be used as the local time. Along tight latitude circles, clockwise is east and counterclockwise is west. The South Pole is at the center of the Southern Hemisphere. Situated on the continent of Antarctica, it is the site of the United States Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, which was established in 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Georgia Islands
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) is a British Overseas Territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote and inhospitable collection of islands, consisting of South Georgia and a chain of smaller islands known as the South Sandwich Islands. South Georgia is long and wide and is by far the largest island in the territory. The South Sandwich Islands lie about southeast of South Georgia. The territory's total land area is . The Falkland Islands are about west from its nearest point. The South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited, and a very small non-permanent population resides on South Georgia. There are no scheduled passenger flights or ferries to or from the territory, although visits by cruise liners to South Georgia are increasingly popular, with several thousand visitors each summer. The United Kingdom claimed sovereignty over South Georgia in 1775 and the South Sandwich Islands in 1908. The territory of "South Georgia and the South Sandwich Island ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dubouzet at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, at a latitude of about 52°S. The archipelago, with an area of , comprises East Falkland, West Falkland, and 776 smaller islands. As a British Overseas Territory, the Falklands have internal self-governance, while the United Kingdom takes responsibility for their defence and foreign affairs. The capital and largest settlement is Stanley, Falkland Islands, Stanley on East Falkland. The islands are believed to have been uninhabited prior to European discovery in the 17th century. Controversy exists over the Falklands' discovery and subsequent colonisation by Europeans. At various times, the islands have had French, British, Spanish, and Argentine settlements. Britain Reassertion of Britis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
