D'Urville Island () is the northernmost

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 ...

of the

Joinville Island group Joinville Island group is a group of antarctic islands, lying off the northeastern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, from which Joinville Island group is separated by the Antarctic Sound. Location The Joinville Island group lies in Graham La ...

in Antarctica. It is long, lying immediately north of

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 ...

, from which it is separated by Larsen Channel.

Location

D'Urville Island is separated by the Larsen Channel from

to the south. It is northeast 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 itself is the 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. ...

. It is southeast of the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands located in the Drake Passage with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the n ...

, from which it is separated by

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 W ...

. Features include Cape Juncal and Turnbull Point.

Burden Passage Joinville Island group is a group of antarctic islands, lying off the northeastern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, from which Joinville Island group is separated by the Antarctic Sound. Location The Joinville Island group lies in Graham La ...

separates d'Urville Island from Bransfield Island to the southwest. Wideopen Island is to the east.

Exploration and name

The single island was charted in 1902 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 Nordenskiöld Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants '' Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded ...

, who named it for 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 ...

, French explorer who discovered land in the

Features

Features and nearby features include:

Français Rocks

. A group of fringing rocks lying off the northeast coast of D'Urville Island. The name "Pointe des Français" (point of the French) was given by Captain Jules Dumont d'Urville (French expedition, 1837–40) to the northeast point of the island which at that time was believed to be continuous with Joinville Island. Surveys by FIDS (1952-54) and aerial photographs by FIDASE (1956-57) have not revealed a definable point hereabout. For the sake of historical continuity in the area, the UK-APC (1978) applied the name Français Rocks to these fringing rocks.

Harris Rock

. The largest and southernmost of a group of three rocks lying north of Montrol Rock and D'Urville Island. The name appears on an Argentine government chart of 1960. Named after Capitán de Navío Santiago Harris, Argentine Navy.

Montrol Rock

. The largest of a group of rocks lying east of Cape Juncal, D'Urville Island. Discovered by the French expedition under Captain

, 1837-40, and named after François Mongin de Montrol, a French journalist and politician.

Medley Rocks

. A group of reefs and rocks lying close off the northeast side of D'Urville 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 1953-54 and named in 1956. The name arose because of the medley of reefs and rocks in this area.

Cape Juncal

. A prominent cape forming the northwest extremity of D'Urville Island. The name appears on an Argentine government chart of 1957 and was applied in remembrance of the Argentine naval victory of 1827 at the island of Juncal.

Northtrap Rocks

. A small isolated group of rocks lying northwest of Cape Juncal. In association with Southtrap Rock, so named by

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 1963 because the rocks are the northernmost of two features which should be avoided by vessels entering the

Antarctic Sound The Antarctic Sound is a 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 under Otto Nordenskjöld for the ...

from the north.

Southtrap Rock

. An isolated rock lying west of Cape Juncal. In association with Northtrap Rocks so named by the UK-APC in 1963 because the rock is the southernmost of two groups of features which should be avoided by vessels entering the

from the north.

Turnbull Point

. An exposed rocky point at the west extremity of D'Urville Island. Following surveys by FIDS, 1959-61, named after David H. Turnbull, Master of the FIDS/BAS ship Shackleton, 1959-69.

Hope Island

. The largest of a group of small islands lying west of Turnbull Point, D'Urville Island. The name appears on Powell's map published by Laurie in 1822. A French expedition under Captain Jules Dumont d'Urville, 1837-40, charted an island in essentially the same position which was named Daussy Island.

References

Sources

* * {{West Antarctica Islands of the Joinville Island group