Zolotov Island lies 1 km south of

Hawker Island Hawker Island is an irregularly shaped island about long, lying some 7 km south-west of Davis Station between Mule Island and Mule Peninsula, Vestfold Hills, in the eastern part of Prydz Bay, Antarctica. It was mapped by Norwegian carto ...

and 0.5 km west of the Mule Peninsula, in

Prydz Bay Prydz Bay is a deep embayment of Antarctica between the Lars Christensen Coast and Ingrid Christensen Coast. The Bay is at the downstream end of a giant glacial drainage system that originates in the East Antarctic interior. The Lambert Glac ...

on the

Ingrid Christensen Coast The Ingrid Christensen Coast is that portion of the coast of Antarctica lying between Jennings Promontory, in 72°33′E, and the western end of the West Ice Shelf in 81°24′E. It is located in the western half of Princess Elizabeth Land, just ...

Princess Elizabeth Land Princess Elizabeth Land is the sector of Antarctica between longitude 73rd meridian east, 73° east and Cape Penck (at 87°43' east). The sector is claimed by Australia as part of the Australian Antarctic Territory, although this claim is not wi ...

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. ...

. The nearest permanent research station is Australia's

Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Station, an Australian base and research outpost in the Vestfold Hills * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Sa ...

, some 10 km to the north-east on Broad Peninsula,

Vestfold Hills The Vestfold Hills are rounded, rocky, coastal hills, in extent, on the north side of Sorsdal Glacier on the Ingrid Christensen Coast of Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica. The hills are subdivided by three west-trending peninsulas bounded by n ...

. Several small lakes are present on the island.

Discovery and naming

The island was mapped from aerial photographs taken by the

Lars Christensen Expedition Lars is a common male name in Scandinavian countries. Origin ''Lars'' means "from the city of Laurentum". Lars is derived from the Latin name Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum" or "crowned with laurel", and is therefore related to the name ...

(1936–37) and also photographed by the USN’s

Operation Highjump Operation HIGHJUMP, officially titled The United States Navy Antarctic Developments Program, 1946–1947, (also called Task Force 68), was a United States Navy (USN) operation to establish the Antarctic research base Little America (exploration b ...

(1946–47), the

Soviet Antarctic Expedition The Soviet Antarctic Expedition (SAE or SovAE) (, ''Sovetskaya antarkticheskaya ekspeditsiya'') was part of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute of the Soviet Committee on Antarctic Research of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. It was ...

of 1956, and by

ANARE The Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE ) is the historical name for the Australia: Antarctic Program#Australian Antarctic program, Australian Antarctic Program (AAP) administered for Australia by the Australian Antarctic D ...

in 1957 and 1958. It was named ''Ostrov Zolotova'' by the Soviet Expedition after A.H. Zolotov, a hydrologist who died in Antarctica.

Important Bird Area

A 167 ha site, which comprises all of Zolotov Island, neighbouring

Kazak Island Kazak Island lies 1 km south of Hawker Island and 0.5 km west of the Mule Peninsula, in Prydz Bay on the Ingrid Christensen Coast of Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarctica. The nearest permanent research station is Australia's Davis, som ...

and the intervening marine area, has been designated an

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 ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because it supports about 23,000 breeding pairs of

Adélie penguin The Adélie penguin (''Pygoscelis adeliae'') is a species of penguin common along the entire coast of the Antarctic continent, which is the only place where it is found. It is the most widespread penguin species, and, along with the emperor peng ...

s, based on estimates made in 1981/82.

References

Important Bird Areas of Antarctica Penguin colonies Islands of Princess Elizabeth Land {{PrincessElizabethLand-geo-stub