The Prince Gustav Channel () is a strait about long and from wide, separating

James Ross Island James Ross Island () is a large island off the southeast side and near the northeastern extremity of the Antarctic Peninsula, from which it is separated by Prince Gustav Channel. Rising to , it is irregularly shaped and extends in a north–so ...

and

Vega Island Vega Island () is an island in Antarctica, long and wide, which is the northernmost of the James Ross Island group and lies in the west part of Erebus and Terror Gulf. It is separated from James Ross Island by Herbert Sound and from Trinit ...

from the

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 ...

, Antarctica.

Location

Prince Gustav Channel is 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 ...

on the southeast coast of the

, which forms 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 separates the

James Ross Island group The James Ross Island group () is a group of islands located close to the northeastern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The largest islands in the group are James Ross Island, Snow Hill Island, Vega Island, and Seymour Island. The islands lie to ...

to the east from the

and Detroit Plateau to the west. It extends north from the

Weddell Sea The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre. Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula. The easternmost point is Cape Norvegia at Princess Martha C ...

and turns east to the Erebus and Terror Gulf. The southern entrance is between

Cape Longing The Longing Peninsula () is a peninsula long terminating in Cape Longing, situated at the northeast end of the Nordenskjöld Coast where it separates the Larsen Ice Shelf from the Prince Gustav Ice Shelf. Location The Longing Peninsula extend ...

on the Longing Peninsula and Cape Foster on

. Further north it extends past Röhss Bay and other smaller bays on James Ross Island, and past the Cugnot Ice Piedmont on the mainland. It passes

Herbert Sound The James Ross Island group () is a group of islands located close to the northeastern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The largest islands in the group are James Ross Island, Snow Hill Island, Vega Island, and Seymour Island. The islands lie t ...

, which leads south between James Ross Island and

, passes south of the Eagle Island group, and opens onto the Erebus and Terror Gulf between Cape Gordon on Vega Island and

Cape Green The Tabarin Peninsula () is a peninsula long and wide, lying south of the trough between Hope Bay and Duse Bay and forming the east extremity of Trinity Peninsula in the Antarctic Peninsula. Location Tabarin Peninsula lies in Graham Land a ...

on the

Tabarin Peninsula The Tabarin Peninsula () is a peninsula long and wide, lying south of the trough between Hope Bay, Antarctica, Hope Bay and Duse Bay and forming the east extremity of Trinity Peninsula in the Antarctic Peninsula. Location Tabarin Peninsula ...

Discovery and name

The Prince Gustav Channel was discovered in October 1903 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 ...

, who named it for Crown Prince Gustav of Sweden (later King Gustav V) of Sweden.

Prince Gustav Ice Shelf

Prince Gustav Ice Shelf 64°15'S, 58°30'W An ice shelf of more than 15 mi extent occupying the S part of Prince Gustav Channel, including Rohss Bay, James Ross Island. 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 1990 in association with the channel. On 27 February 1995, the

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of list of global issues, global issues, and to provide an active prese ...

(BAS) reported that the ice shelf formerly blocking the channel had disintegrated. This ice shelf had spanned approximately prior to its disintegration. In the area previously covered by the shelf, the channel's water depth is between . Between February and March 2000, scientists collected sediment cores 5 to 6 m in length from the ocean floor. Carbon dating of organic material found in the sediment layers suggested that for a period between 2,000 and 5,000 years ago, much of the channel was seasonally open water. While icebergs were able to navigate the channel,

ice rafted debris Ice rafting is the transport of various materials by floating ice. Various objects deposited on ice may eventually become embedded in the ice. When the ice melts after a certain amount of drifting, these objects are deposited onto the bottom of t ...

was deposited within the sediment. Prince Gustav Ice Shelf retreated in the mid-Holocene period 5000 to 2000 years before present,

his His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, ...

"corresponds to regional climate warming deduced from other paleoenvironmental records." It appears that before and after this period, the channel remained closed. The period when the channel was open coincides with a period of local warming supported by data gathered from land-based studies of lake sediments and ancient, abandoned penguin rookeries. With the return of colder conditions about 1900 years ago, the Prince Gustav Ice Shelf reformed until its recent retreat and collapse.

San Nicolás Refuge

The San Nicolás Refuge (, ) is an Argentine Antarctic refuge located on the north coast of the entrance to the Prince Gustav Channel, on the

, at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The refuge is administered by the

Argentine Army The Argentine Army () is the Army, land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the commander-in-chief of the Armed For ...

and was inaugurated on 12 September 1963. It is one of the 18 shelters that are under the responsibility of the

Esperanza Base Esperanza Base (, 'Hope Base') is a permanent, all-year-round Argentine research station in Hope Bay, Trinity Peninsula (in Graham Land on the Antarctic Peninsula). It is the only civilian settlement on the Antarctic mainland (the Chilean Vil ...

, which is responsible for the maintenance and the care. The

Argentine Antarctic Program Argentina was one of the twelve original signatories of the Antarctic Treaty which was signed on December 1, 1959, and came in force on 21 June 1961. Argentina's scientific activities started at the beginning of the twentieth century when an Argent ...

reports that the refuge is inactive.

Glaciers

. A narrow straight glacier, long, flowing eastward from Detroit Plateau into Prince Gustav Channel south of Alectoria Island. Mapped from surveys 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) (1960–61). Named by the

(UK-APC) for Bramah J. Diplock, British engineer who made considerable advances in the design of chain-track tractors (1885-1913).

Sjögren Glacier

. A glacier long in the south part of Trinity Peninsula, flowing southeast from Detroit Plateau to the south side of Mount Wild where it enters Prince Gustav Channel. Discovered in 1903 by the SwedAE under Otto Nordenskjöld. He named it Hj. Sjögren Fiord after a patron of the expedition. The true nature of the feature was determined by the FIDS in 1945.

Aitkenhead Glacier

. Glacier about long, flowing east-southeast from the Detroit Plateau, Graham Land, to Prince Gustav Channel close north of Alectoria Island. Mapped from surveys by FIDS (1960–61). Named by UK-APC for Neil Aitkenhead, FIDS geologist at Hope Bay (1959–60).

Victory Glacier

. A gently sloping glacier, long, flowing east-southeast from the north end of Detroit Plateau on Trinity Peninsula to Prince Gustav Channel immediately north of Pitt Point. Surveyed by the FIDS, and so named because the glacier was sighted in the week following the surrender of Japan in World War II, in August 1945.

Russell East Glacier

. A glacier, long and wide, which lies at the north end of Detroit Plateau and flows from Mount Canicula eastward into Prince Gustav Channel. This glacier together with

Russell West Glacier Russell West Glacier () is a glacier, long and wide, which lies immediately north of Detroit Plateau and flows from Mount Canicula westward into Bone Bay, on the north side of Trinity Peninsula. This glacier together with Russell East Glacier ...

, which flows westward into Bone Bay on the north side of Trinity Peninsula, form a through glacier across the north part of Antarctic Peninsula. It was first surveyed in 1946 by the FIDS. Named by the UK-APC for V.I. Russell, surveyor and leader of the FIDS base at Hope Bay in 1946.

Islands

Alectoria Island

. A low, nearly ice-free island less than long. It lies in Prince Gustav Channel, about off the terminus of Aitkenhead Glacier. Surveyed in 1945 by the FIDS, who named it after the lichen Alectoria which was predominant on the island at the time.

Carlson Island

. Rocky island long and high high, lying in Prince Gustav Channel southeast of

Pitt Point Pitt Point ( ) is a promontory, 90 m high, at the south side of the mouth of Victory Glacier on the south coast of Trinity Peninsula, forming the northeast side of the entrance to Chudomir Cove. The promontory was charted by the Falkland Islands ...

, Trinity Peninsula. Discovered in 1903 by the SwedAE under Otto Nordenskjöld, who named it for Wilhelm Carlson, one of the chief patrons of the expedition.

Long Island

. An island long, in a northeast–southwest direction, and wide, lying opposite the mouth of Russell East Glacier and south of Trinity Peninsula in Prince Gustav Channel. Discovered and named by the FIDS in 1945. The name is descriptive.

Red Island

. Circular, flat-topped island, in diameter and high, with reddish cliffs of volcanic rock, lying northwest of Cape Lachman, James Ross Island, in Prince Gustav Channel. Discovered and named by the SwedAE under Otto Nordenskjöld, 1901-04.

The Monument

. A rock pillar rising to high on Red Island in Prince Gustav Channel. The feature was sighted by the SwedAE under Otto Nordenskjöld, 1901-04. It was surveyed and named descriptively by the FIDS in 1945.

References

Sources

* * * {{Antarctic fields camp Channels of the Southern Ocean Straits of Graham Land Landforms of James Ross Island