Melchior Islands
| Melchior Islands | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Waters | Dallmann Bay | |
| archipelago | Palmer Archipelago | |
| Geographical location | 64 ° 19 ′ S , 62 ° 57 ′ W | |
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| Main island | Omega island | |
| Residents | uninhabited | |
The Melchior Islands ( English Melchior Islands , Spanish Archipiélago Melchior ) are an archipelago located in the Dallmann Bay between the Anvers and Brabant Islands off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula . It includes numerous small, ice-covered, uninhabited islands east and west of The Sound , which are divided into the groups of the Eastern and Western Melchior Islands .
geography
The Melchior Islands are part of the Antarctic island region of the Palmer Archipelago .
Almost all of the islands derive their name from the letters of the Greek alphabet . In detail these are the alpha islet , the Beta island , the gamma island , the Delta island , the Epsiloninsel that Etainsel , the Kappa island , the lambda island , the Pi-islands , the Psi-islands that Rho-islands , the Sigma-islands which Tau Islands , the Theta Islands and the Omega island . An exception is the Bremen Island , which happened to be discovered by the passengers of the Bremen during a cruise in 2003 and was officially named after this German cruise ship.
history
The islands were probably discovered by the German whaler Eduard Dallmann in the winter of 1873/74. The next sighting took place during the Fourth French Antarctic Expedition (1903-1905) of the polar explorer Jean-Baptiste Charcot . Charcot considered the objects known today as the Eta and Omega Islands to be a single island and named them Île Melchior . It is named after the French Vice Admiral Jules Bernard François Melchior (1844–1908), who helped Charcot's expedition. After Argentine expeditions to the Antarctic in 1942 and 1943, the individual islands were renamed and the entire group was named Archipiélago Melchior . On the Lambda Island was Lighthouse Primero de Mayo erected today as HSM-29 Historic sites and monuments under the protection of the Antarctic Treaty is.
tourism
The Melchior Islands are now a frequent destination for Antarctic cruises. In addition to exploring rugged islands and icebergs by inflatable boat, the area is best known for the frequent sightings of humpback whales .
Web links
- Site with good pictures ( Engl. )
- Tagesschau.de (Discovery of Bremen Island) ( Memento from July 22, 2010 on WebCite )