Saunders Island (South Sandwich Islands)

Saunders Island
Saunders Island satellite image
Waters	South Atlantic
Archipelago	South Sandwich Islands
Geographical location	57 ° 47 ′ 57 ″  S , 26 ° 29 ′ 10 ″  W Coordinates: 57 ° 47 ′ 57 ″  S , 26 ° 29 ′ 10 ″  W
length	9.2 km
width	6.3 km
surface	40 km²
Highest elevation	Mount Michael 990  m
Residents	uninhabited

Saunders Iceland is the third largest of the South Atlantic located South Sandwich Islands .

geography

The uninhabited and crescent-shaped volcanic island (length about 9.2 km, maximum width 6.3 km), which is politically part of the British overseas territory " South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ", is located south of the Candlemas Islands and north of Montagu Island . Saunders Island is formed by the active stratovolcano Mount Michael , the last known explosive eruption of which was recorded in 1819. However, the location far from human settlements suggests that further unobserved eruptions have occurred since then. The evaluation of satellite images provided indications of extensive volcanic activities for the period from 1995 onwards. The measured thermal anomalies are considered to be evidence of the at least temporary existence of an active lava lake in the summit crater. Numerous smaller outbreaks were observed in the period mentioned, the last so far in 2015.

history

Saunders Island was discovered in 1775 by the English navigator James Cook and named after the British Admiral Charles Saunders (1715-1775). The island was rediscovered around 45 years later in the course of an Antarctic expedition by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, a Baltic German seafarer in Russian service .

literature

• Martin Wyatt Holdgate , Peter Edward Baker: The South Sandwich Islands: I. General description (=  British Antarctic Survey Scientific Reports . No. 91 ). Natural Environment Research Council - British Antarctic Survey , Cambridge 1979, ISBN 0-85665-046-3 , IV. South Sandwich Islands - F. Saunders Island, p. 39–45 (English, online , PDF; 12.77 MB).

Web links

Commons : Saunders Island (South Sandwich Islands)  - Collection of pictures, videos, and audio files

• Saunders inthe Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program .
• Mount Michael, South Sandwich Islands. In: Volcano World . Oregon State University (English).
• Saunders Island ( Memento of November 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) in the island encyclopedia oceandots.com (English).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Matthew R. Patrick, John L. Smellie: Synthesis A spaceborne inventory of volcanic activity in Antarctica and southern oceans, 2000-10 . In: Antarctic Science . tape 25 , no. 4 , August 2013, ISSN  0954-1020 , South Sandwich Islands: Mount Michael (Saunders Island), p. 485-487 , doi : 10.1017 / S0954102013000436 (English).