Île de la Possession
| Île de la Possession | |
|---|---|
 (north is on the right) |
|
| Waters | Indian Ocean |
| Archipelago | Crozet Islands |
| Geographical location | 46 ° 24 ′ S , 51 ° 46 ′ E |
 |
|
| length | 19 km |
| width | 14 km |
| surface | 150 km² |
| Highest elevation | Pic du Mascarin 934 m |
| Residents | up to 60 (ward staff) <1 inh / km² |
| main place | Base Alfred-Faure |
 |
|
The Île de la Possession (originally Île de la Prize de Possession ) is the largest island in the Crozet Islands in the southern Indian Ocean . It belongs to the French overseas territory "Terres australes et antarctiques françaises" .
geography
The Île de la Possession is located about 15 km west of the neighboring Île de l'Est and is separated from it by the Canal des Orques . The island is about 19 km long in an east-west direction and up to 14 km wide in a north-south direction and has an area of about 150 km². It reaches the Pic du Mascarin (also known as Pic du Mescado called), a stratovolcano , a height of 934 m above sea level and thus represents the second highest island represents the archipelago. A mountain range in the north of the island was by Jules Verne named.
history
The island was discovered on January 24, 1772 by Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne , who landed on the island the same day and took possession of it for France. The Île de la Possession was mainly visited by seal hunters in the early 19th century and later also by whalers . In 1901, the scientists of the First German Antarctic Expedition , led by Erich von Drygalski, carried out their first scientific investigation of the island. From 1963 to 1964, the Alfred-Faure research station was built on the Baie du Marin on the east coast of the island , which is now permanently occupied by around 15 people in the southern winter and up to 60 people in the southern summer.
various
In Tom Hillenbrands science thrillers "Hologrammatica" and its second part "Qube", the island plays an important role as the physical location of a secret AI of the UN .
Web links
- Virtual map of the Île de la Possession (French)
- Île de la Possession in the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ William James Mills: Exploring Polar Frontiers - A Historical Encyclopedia . tape 1 . ABC-CLIO, 2003, ISBN 1-57607-422-6 , pp. 197 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
- ↑ Tom Hillenbrand: Hologrammatica: Thriller . 2018, ISBN 978-3-462-05149-0 .