Devil Island (Antarctica)
| Devil Island | ||
|---|---|---|
| Waters | Weddell Sea | |
| Archipelago | Ross Islands | |
| Geographical location | 63 ° 48 ′ S , 57 ° 17 ′ W | |
|
||
| length | 2 km | |
| width | <1 km | |
| surface | 1.279 km² | |
| Highest elevation | 207 m | |
| Residents | uninhabited | |
Devil Island ( Spanish Isla del Diablo , German also Devil's Island ) is an island in the Weddell Sea . It is located in a bay on the north coast of Vega Island in the Prince Gustav Canal southeast of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula .
geography
The narrow island is about two kilometers long but less than a kilometer wide. At both ends, two rocky hills up to 207 m high and separated by a valley fall steeply into the sea. Its name is derived from these two "horns". The island is not glaciated .
Flora and fauna
In December 2008, 14,900 breeding pairs of Adelie penguins were counted on Devil Island . BirdLife International therefore designates the island as an Important Bird Area (AQ072). Radiocarbon studies have shown that the colony has existed since the 15th century. Sub-Antarctic skuas and perhaps snow petrels , whose nests were found in 1945/46, breed on the island . Also found, but not as breeder, are the red-legged petrels and Dominican gulls .
The vegetation is dominated by lichens of the genus Xanthoria . In addition, there are Caloplaca lichens and algae of the genus Prasiola .
history
Devil Island was discovered and mapped on October 12, 1903 by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition . Its director Otto Nordenskjöld gave the island its name ( Djävulsön in Swedish ).
tourism
Devil Island is regularly visited by tourists. In the southern summers from 2005/06 to 2009/10, around 2500 people visited the island each year. In the 2011/12 season there were 1472. The shore leave is strictly regulated by the Antarctic Treaty for nature conservation reasons.
The Senckenberg Research Institute in Görlitz has been studying the influence of humans on Antarctic ecosystems since 2010 using soil samples taken from Devil Island, among other places.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Devil Island (AQ072) in the Data Zone at BirdLife International, accessed on July 22, 2018 (English).
- ^ A b John Stewart: Antarctica - An Encyclopedia . Vol. 1, McFarland & Co., Jefferson and London 2011, ISBN 978-0-7864-3590-6 , p. 425 (English)
- ↑ a b Devil Island - Vega Island Visitor Site Guide (PDF; 651 kB)
- ↑ Steven D. Emslie: Radiocarbon dates from abandoned penguin colonies in the Antarctic Peninsula region (PDF; 716 kB). In: Antarctic Science 13 (3), 2001, pp. 289-295
- ↑ Tourism statistics of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), accessed on May 8, 2013
- ↑ Doris von Eiff: (K) what's living under the shoe? - How tourists influence the biodiversity of the Antarctic , Senckenberg Research Institute and Nature Museums, press release from February 9, 2011, accessed on May 8, 2013
- Jump up ↑ David J. Russell, Karin Hohberg, Volker Otte, Axel Christian, Mikhail Potapov, Alexander Brückner, Sandra J. McInnes: The Impact of Human Activities on Soil Organisms of the Maritime Antarctic and the Introduction of Non-Native Species in Antarctica . Federal Environment Agency, Texts No. 22/2013, accessed on April 6, 2018 (English).