Thumb Rock

Galindez Island () is an island long, lying immediately east of Winter Island in the Argentine Islands, Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica.
It is home to the Vernadsky Research Base.

Location

The Argentine Islands are off the Graham Coast of the Antarctic Peninsula.
They are south of the French Passage, west of Mount Shackleton on the mainland, north of the Berthelot Islands and Grandidier Channel and east of the Betbeder Islands.

Sailing directions

The US Defense Mapping Agency's ''Sailing Directions for Antarctica'' (1976) describes Galindez Island and its surroundings as follows:

Discovery and name

Galindez Island was discovered by the French Antarctic Expedition, 1903–05 (FrAE), under Jean-Baptiste Charcot, who named it for Commander Ismael Galindez of the Argentine Navy, who was dispatched in the ''Uruguay'' to search for Charcot, when the expedition was feared lost early in 1905.
The island was recharted by the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE) under John Rymill, 1934–37.

Vernadsky Research Base

Vernadsky Station on Galindez Island in January 2014

The BGLE hut on Winter Island disappeared in mysterious circumstances (possibly due to a tsunami) in 1946. A new hut was set up on 7 January 1947 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS), becoming known officially as Station F ("Wordie Hut", after James Wordie). This was replaced on 30 May 1954 by a larger hut on nearby Galindez Island ("Coronation Hut" after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953) and was a key observatory during the International Geophysical Year 1957/58. FIDS was re-organised and renamed as the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in the early 1960s. After 30-odd years of continuous occupation as a geophysical, magnetic, ionospheric, atmospheric and meteorological observatory, Station F was rebuilt by BAS in 1980, before being abandoned and handed over to Ukraine on 6 February 1996 and renamed Vernadsky Research Base.
The Ukrainian Vernadsky Research Base is at Marina Point on Galindez Island.
St. Volodymyr Chapel is a small Ukrainian Orthodox Chapel which serves the Vernadsky Research Base.

Features

Marina Point

.
A low rocky point which forms the northwest tip of Galindez Island.
First surveyed in 1935-36 by the BGLE under Rymill and named by members of the expedition for Princess Marina, later Duchess of Kent, who was married in November 1934, while the ship ''Penola'' was enroute to the Argentine Islands.

Woozle Hill

.
A hill near the center of Galindez Island.
First charted by the BGLE under Rymill, 1934-37.
Named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC) in 1959 after an imaginary animal in A. A. Milne's ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' which leaves tracks in the snow, in reality made by the tracker who is unaware that he is walking in circles.
The hill was extensively used for ice observations and, as it can be approached from any direction, encircling tracks were often seen from the summit.

Nearby features

Nearby features, from north to south, include:

Grotto Island

.
A narrow island long with a serrated coastline, lying north of Galindez Island.
Charted and named in 1935 by the BGLE under Rymill.

Bloor Passage

A passage leading northward from Meek Channel between Corner Island and Uruguay Island.
Named by the UK-APC in 1959 for Able Seaman Vincent T. Bloor, Royal Navy, a member of the British Naval Hydrographic Survey Unit in the area in 1957-58.

Corner Island

.
A small island in the form of a crude right angle, lying northeast of Galindez Island.
Charted and named in 1935 by the BGLE under John Rymill.

Meek Channel

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A narrow channel separating Galindez Island from Grotto Island and Corner Island.
Charted in 1935 by the BGLE under Rymill, and named for William McC. Meek, marine architect and surveyor, who was of assistance in preparing the expedition ship ''Penola'' for the voyage.

Three Little Pigs

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Three small islands northwest of Winter Island.
Charted and named in 1935 by the BGLE under Rymill.

The Buttons

.
Two small islands lying northwest of Galindez Island.
Charted and named in 1935 by the BGLE under Rymill.

Indicator Island

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An island long, lying west of the northwest end of Galindez Island.
Charted and named in 1935 by the BGLE under Rymill.
A wind sock was erected on this island by the BGLE to indicate wind direction for the expedition's airplane.

Corner Rock

.
A rock lying about midway between Galindez Island and Corner Island at the southeast entrance to Meek Channel.
Charted and named in 1935 by the BGLE under John Rymill.

Thumb Rock

.
A rock lying between Winter Island and the northwest end of Galindez Island.
Charted and named in 1935 by the BGLE under Rymill.

Stella Creek

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A narrow winding passage extending from Thumb Rock to the southeast end of Winter Island and lying between Winter Island and Galindez Island.
Charted in 1935 by the BGLE and named after the expedition motor boat ''Stella Polaris''.

Cornice Channel

.
A narrow channel separating Galindez Island from the east part of Skua Island.
First surveyed in 1935-36 by the BGLE under Rymill.
So named in 1954 by the UK-APC because a prominent cornice overhangs the ice cliff on the Galindez Island side of the channel.

References

Sources

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Islands of the Wilhelm Archipelago