Joinville Island group is a group of

antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...

islands This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water, and by other classifications. For rank-order lists, see the #Other lists of islands, other lists of islands below. Lists of islands by count ...

, lying off the northeastern tip of the

Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martin in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctica. ...

, from which Joinville Island group is separated by the Antarctic Sound.

Location

The Joinville Island group lies in

Graham Land Graham Land is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula that lies north of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This description of Graham Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the British Antarctic Place-names Committee ...

to the east of the tip of

Trinity Peninsula Trinity Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Antarctic Peninsula. It extends northeastward for about 130 km (80 mi) to Cape Dubouzet from an imaginary line connecting Cape Kater on the north-west coast and Cape Longing on the sou ...

, which is itself the tip of the

. It is separated from the mainland by the Antarctic Sound.

Joinville Island Joinville Island () is the largest island of the Joinville Island group, about long in an east–west direction and wide, lying off the northeastern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, from which it is separated by the Antarctic Sound. Location ...

is at the center of the group. Other islands and rocks include, clockwise from the west, Bransfield Island, D'Urville Island, Wideopen Islands, Brash Island, Danger Islands,

Eden Rocks The Eden Rocks are two rocks lying 1.5 km off the east coast of Dundee Island, at the northern end of the Antarctic Peninsula. A small island was reported there on 30 December 1842 by Captain James Clark Ross of the Royal Navy, who named it ...

Paulet Island Paulet Island is a Circle, circular island about in diameter, lying south-east of Dundee Island, off the north-eastern end of the Antarctic Peninsula. Because of its large penguin colony, it is a popular destination for sightseeing tours. D ...

Dundee Island Dundee Island () is an ice-covered island lying east of the northeastern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and south of Joinville Island, Antarctica. Location Dundee Island is in the Joinville Island group in Graham Land. It is south of Joinvi ...

Main islands

D'Urville Island

. Northernmost island of the Joinville Island group, long, lying immediately north of Joinville Island, from which it is separated by Larsen Channel. Charted in 1902 by the SwedAE under Otto Nordenskjöld, who named it for Captain Jules Dumont d'Urville, French explorer who discovered land in the Joinville Island group.

Joinville Island

. Largest island of the Joinville Island group, about long in an east–west direction and wide, lying off the northeast tip of Antarctic Peninsula, from which it is separated by Antarctic Sound. Discovered and roughly charted in 1838 by a French expedition under Captain

Jules Dumont d'Urville Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (; 23 May 1790 – 8 May 1842) was a French List of explorers, explorer and French Navy, naval officer who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. As a botanist an ...

, who named it for

François d'Orléans, Prince of Joinville François d'Orléans, Prince de Joinville (14 August 1818 – 16 June 1900) was the third son of Louis Philippe I, Louis Philippe, List of French monarchs, King of the French, and his wife Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily. An admiral of t ...

(1818-1900), the third son of the Due d'Orleans.

Dundee Island

. Ice-covered island lying east of the northeast tip of Antarctic Peninsula and south of Joinville Island. Discovered on 8 January 1893 by Captain Thomas Robertson of the ''Active'' and named for the home port,

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, Scotland, from whence the ship sailed in company with three other vessels in search of whales.

Straits

Antarctic Sound

. Body of water about long and from wide, separating the Joinville Island group from the northeast end of the Antarctic Peninsula. The sound was named by the

Swedish Antarctic Expedition The Swedish Antarctic Expedition of 1901–1903 was a scientific expedition led by Otto Nordenskjöld and Carl Anton Larsen. It was the first Swedish endeavour to Antarctica in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Background Otto Nordensk ...

(SwedAE) under

Otto Nordenskjöld Nils Otto Gustaf Nordenskjöld (6 December 1869 – 2 June 1928) was a Swedish geologist, geographer, and polar explorer. Early life Nordenskjöld was born in Hässleby in Småland in eastern Sweden, in a family that included his maternal unc ...

for the expedition ship ''Antarctic'' which in 1902, under the command of Captain C.A. Larsen, was the first vessel to navigate it.

Burden Passage

. A marine passage between D'Urville Island and Bransfield Island. Charted in 1947 by the FIDS and named after Eugene Burden (1892-1979), who, as master of the ''Trepassey'', first navigated the passage in January 1947.

Larsen Channel

. A strait wide between D'Urville Island and Joinville Island. Discovered in 1902 by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition under Nordenskjold, and named for Captain C.A. Larsen of the expedition ship ''Antarctic''.

Firth of Tay

. A sound, long and wide, extending in a northwest–southeast direction between the northeast side of Dundee Island and the east portion of Joinville Island. It merges to the northwest with Active Sound with which it completes the separation of Dundee and Joinville Islands. Discovered in 1892–93 by Captain Thomas Robertson of the Dundee whaling expedition and named by him after the

Firth of Tay The Firth of Tay (; ) is a firth on the east coast of Scotland, into which empties the River Tay (Scotland's largest river in terms of flow). The firth is surrounded by four council areas: Fife, Perth and Kinross, Dundee City, and Angus. ...

of Scotland.

Active Sound

. A sound, averaging wide, extending in an east-northeast direction from Antarctic Sound and joining the Firth of Tay with which it separates Joinville and Dundee Islands. Discovered in 1892-93 by Captain Thomas Robertson of the Dundee whaling expedition. Robertson named the feature after his ship, the Active, first vessel to navigate the sound.

Smaller islands

Smaller islands, clockwise from the west, include:

Bransfield Island

. An island nearly , long, lying southwest of D'Urville Island. The name Point Bransfield, after Edward Bransfield, Master, Royal Navy, was given in 1842 by a British expedition under

James Clark Ross Sir James Clark Ross (15 April 1800 – 3 April 1862) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer of both the northern and southern polar regions. In the Arctic, he participated in two expeditions led by his uncle, Sir John Ross, John ...

to the low western termination of what is now the Joinville Island group. A 1947 survey by the FIDS determined that this western termination is a separate island.

Papua Island

. A small circular island lying west of Boreal Point, off the north coast of Joinville Island. The name was applied by the Argentine Antarctic Expedition (1953-54) because large numbers of gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) were sighted on this island.

Wideopen Islands

. A group of islands and rocks lying north of Boreal Point, Joinville Island. Roughly surveyed from a distance by the FIDS in 1953-54. So named by the

UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee The UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (or UK-APC) is a United Kingdom government committee, part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, responsible for recommending names of geographical locations within the British Antarctic Territory (BAT) an ...

(UK-APC) in 1958 because of their exposed, isolated position on the south side of Bransfield Strait.

Patella Island

. A small but prominent island, more than high, lying northwest of Ambush Bay off the north coast of Joinville Island. Surveyed by the

Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey The Falkland Islands and Dependencies Aerial Survey Expedition (FIDASE) was an aerial survey of the Falkland Islands Dependencies The Falkland Islands Dependencies was the constitutional arrangement from 1843 until 1985 for administering the v ...

(FIDS) in 1953. The name is descriptive of the island's shape; Patella is the Latin name for a limpet.

Etna Island

. An island with a high summit, lying north of the eastern end of Joinville Island. Discovered by a British expedition under

, 1839-43, who so named it because of its resemblance to volcanic

Mount Etna Mount Etna, or simply Etna ( or ; , or ; ; or ), is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Catania, between the cities of Messina, Italy, Messina and Catania. It is located above the Conve ...

Brash Island

. An isolated island lying northwest of Darwin Island, off the southeast end of Joinville Island. Surveyed by the FIDS in 1953. So named by the UK-APC because the island lies in an area where brash ice is frequently found.

Danger Islands

. Group of islands lying east-southeast of Joinville Island. Discovered on 28 December 1842 by a British expedition under

, who so named them because, appearing among heavy fragments of ice, they were almost completely concealed until the ship was nearly upon them.

Puget Rock

. A rock lying east of Eden Rocks, off the east end of Dundee Island. The name Cape Puget was given by Sir James Clark Ross on 30 December 1842, for Captain William D. Puget, Royal Navy, but it is not clear from Ross' text what feature he was naming. The name Puget Rock was given by the

(UK-APC) in 1956 in order to preserve Ross' name in this vicinity.

Eden Rocks

. Two rocks lying just off the east end of Dundee Island. A small island was reported here by Captain James Clark Ross, Royal Navy, on December 30,1842. He named it "Eden Island" for Captain Charles Eden, Royal Navy. Following survey by the

(FIDS) in 1953, it was reported that the feature consists of two rocks lying close together. The Eden Rocks are a designated

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

Paulet Island

. A circular island about in diameter, lying southeast of Dundee Island. Discovered by a British expedition under Ross, 1839-43, and named by him for Captain the Right Honorable Lord George Paulet.

Rosamel Island

. A circular island in diameter with precipitous cliffs of volcanic rock rising to a snow-covered peak high high, lying west of Dundee Island in the south entrance to Antarctic Sound. Discovered by the French expedition, 1837-40, under Captain

, and named by him for V. Admiral Claude de Rosamel, French Minister of Marine under whose orders the expedition sailed.

References

Sources

* * * {{Include-USGov , agency=United States Geological Survey Islands of Graham Land