Snow Hill Island
| Snow Hill Island | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Waters | Weddell Sea | |
| Archipelago | Ross Islands | |
| Geographical location | 64 ° 28 ′ S , 57 ° 12 ′ W | |
|
||
| length | 35.1 km | |
| width | 15.7 km | |
| surface | 371.2 km² | |
| Highest elevation | 396 m | |
| Residents | uninhabited | |
 |
||
Snow Hill Island ( called Isla Cerro Nevado in Argentina , German about " Snow Hill Island " ) is an island in the Weddell Sea off the Antarctic Peninsula .
geography
It is opposite James Ross Island on the southeast side of Admiralty Road . Separated by the approximately 800 meter wide Picnic Passage , the Seymour Island follows immediately to the northeast , where Argentina has operated the Base Antártica Marambio research station since 1969 . Lockyer Island is four kilometers to the west, at the southwest exit of Admiralty Road . Snow Hill Island is about 35 km long, almost 16 km wide and has an area of around 371.2 km². The island is 96% glaciated and only has ice-free areas in its northern part, the Spath Peninsula. The ice cap , which covers the entire southern part of the island, is up to 396 m high.
geology
The ice-free surface of the Spath Peninsula is shaped by fossil-rich clay and sandstones of the Snow Hill Island Formation and the López de Bertodano Formation , which are assigned to the Upper Cretaceous and which also continue on the neighboring islands. In addition to fossils of invertebrates , especially snails , mussels , ammonites , sea urchins and corals , footprints of dinosaurs have also been found.
fauna
To the southwest of Snow Hill Island is a large breeding colony of emperor penguins . In November 2004, between 4,000 and 4,200 breeding pairs were counted on 263 hectares of fixed ice in the immediate vicinity of the island . The colony is designated as an Important Bird Area (AQ069) by BirdLife International .
history
The island was first sighted on January 6, 1843 by James Clark Ross, who, however, held it together with James Ross Island for part of the Antarctic Peninsula. Since the island's ice cap was in clear contrast to the snow-free areas adjacent to the north, he recorded it on his map as Snow Hill .
The island character of Snow Hill Island could only be proven by the Swedish Antarctic expedition led by Otto Nordenskjöld , which wintered here in 1902 and 1903. Nordenskjöld, who landed on the island on February 14, 1902, only wanted to spend an arctic winter here, but could not leave the island because the Antarctic, led by captain Carl Anton Larsen , sank in the Weddell Sea on February 21, 1903 after heavy ice pressing was. Nordenskjöld used the time to explore and map the area on extensive toboggan tours. He discovered the Prince Gustav Canal and thus proved that James Ross Island is also an island. The longest series of meteorological measurements in Antarctica to date was recorded in his warehouse. On November 8th, Captain Julián Irizar (1869-1935) reached Snow Hill Island as the leader of an Argentine rescue expedition with the corvette Uruguay and saved Nordenskjöld from another wintering.
In December 1934, Lincoln Ellsworth took off from Snow Hill Island with pilot Bernt Balchen on a flight along the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. However, deteriorating weather prevented him from crossing the continent as planned. He didn't succeed until a year later, when he flew from Dundee Island to the Bay of Whales on the Ross Sea .
tourism
The island is occasionally visited by tourists, on the one hand because of the emperor penguins to be found here, on the other hand because of the remains of the Swedish camp from 1902/1903. Nordenskjölds Hütte is now a Historic Site and Monument HSM-38 under the protection of the Antarctic Treaty . Your visit is strictly regulated.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ K. Kostakis: Islands of the world (PDF; 472 kB), accessed on March 14, 2013
- ↑ BJ Davies, JL Carrivick, NF Glasser, MJ Hambrey, JL Smellie: A new glacier inventory for 2009 reveals spatial and temporal variability in glacier response to atmospheric warming in the Northern Antarctic Peninsula, 1988–2009 (PDF; 4.0 MB) . In: The Cryosphere Discussions . 5, 2011, pp. 3541-3594 (English), doi: 10.5194 / tcd-5-3541-2011
- ↑ UNEP Islands (English)
- ↑ EB Olivero, JJ Ponce, CA Marsicano, DR Martinioni: Depositional Settings of the basal López de Bertodano Formation, Maastrichtian, Antarctica (PDF; 4.9 MB). In: Revista de la Asociación Geológica Argentina 62 (4), 2007, pp. 521–529 (English)
- ↑ Frank S. Todd, Susan Adie, John F. Splettstoesser: First Ground Visit to the Emperor Penguin Aptenodytes Forsteri Colony at Snow Hill Island, Weddell Sea, Antarctica (PDF; 161 kB). In: Marine Ornithology 32, 2004, pp. 193–194 (English)
- ↑ Snow Hill Island (AQ069) in the Data Zone at BirdLife International, accessed on July 22, 2018.
- ^ William James Mills: Exploring Polar Frontiers - A Historical Encyclopedia , Vol. 2, ABC-CLIO, 2003, ISBN 1-57607-422-6 , p. 618 (English)
- ↑ Otto Nordenskjöld: Scientific results of the Swedish south polar expedition 1901-1903 . Vol. 1, Delivery 1: The Swedish South Polar Expedition and its geographic activity , Lithographic Institute of the General Staff, Stockholm 1911
- ^ Antarctic Treaty (Environment Protection - Historic Sites and Monuments) Proclamation 2007, F2011C00980
- ↑ Snow Hill Visitors Site Guide (PDF; 727 kB), accessed on August 20, 2012