Sturge Island
| Sturge Island | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Waters | Somow lake | |
| Archipelago | Balleny Islands | |
| Geographical location | 67 ° 30 ′ S , 164 ° 39 ′ E | |
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| length | 34 km | |
| width | 15 km | |
| surface | 437.4 km² | |
| Highest elevation |
Brown Peak 1524 m |
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| Residents | uninhabited | |
Sturge Island is an uninhabited, volcanic island in the Somow Sea of the Southern Ocean , about 300 km from mainland Antarctica . It is the southernmost and easternmost of the Balleny Islands and belongs to the Ross sub-area , the Antarctic territory claimed by New Zealand . Sturge Island is 85 km southeast of Buckle Island and 136 km southeast of Young Island , but in contrast to these is not surrounded by other small islets. It was discovered as the first of the Balleny Islands on February 9, 1839 by the British whaling captain John Balleny and is named after one of the financiers of his Antarctic voyage, the British merchant Thomas Sturge (1787–1866).
Sturge Island is about 34 km long in north-south direction, up to 15 km wide in east-west direction and covers an area of 437.4 km². The highest point of the island, which is completely covered by glaciers , is the 1524 m (according to other sources 1167 m or 1705 m ) high and still unclimbed Brown Peak .
The northern tip of the island, Cape Freeman , is a 672 meter high, almost vertical cliff and is named after Thomas Freeman († March 24, 1839), captain of the Sabrina during Balleny's Antarctic voyage, who first visited Sturge Island on February 9, 1839 entered. From the southern end of the island, Cape Smyth , it is about 650 kilometers to the next island in the east, the isolated Scott Island .
Web links
- The Antarctic - Sector 4.20 - Balleny Islands (English; PDF file; 350 kB)
- Sturge Island in the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution (English)