South Sandwich Islands

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South Sandwich Islands
Zavodovski Island, the northernmost island
Zavodovski Island, the northernmost island
Waters South Atlantic
Geographical location 57 ° 45 ′  S , 26 ° 30 ′  W Coordinates: 57 ° 45 ′  S , 26 ° 30 ′  W
Map of the South Sandwich Islands
Number of islands 11
without secondary islands
Main island Montagu Island
Total land area 310 km²
Residents uninhabited
Map of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Map of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
The South Sandwich Islands

The South Sandwich Islands are a chain of islands in the sub-Antarctic South Atlantic . Politically, the group belongs to the British overseas territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands , but is also claimed by Argentina . Due to their geographical location, the South Sandwich Islands are not subject to the Antarctic Treaty and therefore not subject to the status quo regulation of Article 4 of the Treaty.

geography

overview

The South Sandwich Islands are located within the South Atlantic in a southeast direction from South Georgia . They extend as an island arc on the northeast and eastern edge of the sandwich plate , which in the region of the island chain in the northeast and east meets the South American plate , where the south sandwich trench is located. South of the chain of islands, the first-mentioned plate meets the Antarctic plate .

Almost all of the South Sandwich Islands are of volcanic origin . Some of them still have active volcanoes, such as Mount Belinda (1370 m) on Montagu Island , which has been active for several years . Because of their sub-Antarctic location and volcanic landscape, the islands are uninhabited. However, they are home to a large number of seabirds and seal colonies.

From 1976 to 1982, the permanently manned Argentine research station Corbeta Uruguay was on Morrell Island . In January 1955, Argentina built the Refugio Teniente Esquivel summer station at the same location, but had to be abandoned a year later due to a volcanic eruption. There and on Zavodovski Island today only automatic (unmanned) weather stations are available.

About 65 kilometers northwest of Zavadovski is the submarine volcano Protector Shoal , at position 55 ° 54 ′  S , 28 ° 6 ′  W , with a shallowest depth of 27 meters below sea level. The last outbreak occurred in 1962.

About 40 kilometers southwest of Thule Island is the Vysokaya Bank on position 59 ° 43 '  S , 27 ° 58'  W . This has a shallowest depth of 84 meters.

The islands

f1Georeferencing Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap The following table lists the South Sandwich Islands from north to south:

Island ( Spanish name ) Area
(km²)
Highest elevation (m) Coordinates
Traversay Islands
Zavodovski Island 25th Mount Curry 550 56 ° 18 ′  S , 27 ° 35 ′  W
Leskov Island 0.36 Rudder Point 190 56 ° 40 ′  S , 28 ° 6 ′  W
Visokoi Island 35 Mount Hodson 915 56 ° 42 ′  S , 27 ° 12 ′  W
Candlemas Islands (sometimes included in the Traversay Islands)
Candlemas ( Candelaria ) 14th Mount Andromeda 550 57 ° 6 ′  S , 26 ° 43 ′  W
Vindication ( Vindicación ) 5 Quadrant Peak 430 57 ° 7 ′  S , 26 ° 49 ′  W
Centrally located islands
Saunders Island 40 Mount Michael 990 57 ° 48 ′  S , 26 ° 29 ′  W
Montagu Island ( Jorge ) 110 Mount Belinda 1370 58 ° 27 ′  S , 26 ° 22 ′  W
Bristol Island ( Blanca ) 1) 46 Mount Darnley 1100 59 ° 1 ′  S , 26 ° 32 ′  W.
Southern Thule Islands
Bellingshausen 2 Basilisk Peak 255 59 ° 25 ′  S , 27 ° 5 ′  W
Cook Island 20th Mount Harmer 1115 59 ° 26 ′  S , 27 ° 11 ′  W
Morrell Island ( Tule del Sur ) 2) 14th Mount Larsen 710 59 ° 26 ′  S , 27 ° 22 ′  W
South Sandwich Islands 310 Mount Belinda 1370  

1) with three offshore islands to the west :

  1. Grindle Rock (0.30 km²)
  2. Wilson Rock
  3. Freezland Rock (0.32 km²)

2) with the secondary island Twitcher Rock (0.01 km²)

history

The three northernmost islands ( Traversay Islands ) were discovered in 1819 by the Russian navigator Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen . Years before, around 1775, the British navigator James Cook had discovered the southern islands. The name of the entire island chain can be traced back to the English naval admiral John Montagu , the fourth Earl of Sandwich (1718–1792). The addition Southern was necessary because James Cook discovered what is now Hawaii in 1778 , the islands of which he also called the Sandwich Islands at the time .

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : South Sandwich Islands  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. http://www.histarmar.com.ar/Antartida/RefugioThule2-ElYeti.htm
  2. http://www.histarmar.com.ar/Antartida/RefugioThule1-.htm
  3. Argentine nautical chart with depth indication 84 meters southeast of Morrell. In Volume 124 of the Sailing Directions ( East Coast of South America ) this point is also described without a name: A bank, with a least charted depth of 84m, the position of which is approximate, lies about 28 miles SW of the W extremity of Thule Iceland.