South Orkney Islands
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The South Orkney Islands are a group of sub-antarctic islands situated at latitudes 60°50' to 60°83' S, and longitudes 44°25' to 46°25' W in the Southern Ocean.
Geography and climate
The archipelago comprises four main islands. Coronation Island is the largest island; its highest point is Mount Nivea and rises to 1266 m above sea level. Laurie Island is the easternmost of the islands. The other islands are the smaller Powell Island and Signy Island as well as a few tiny ones named Saddle Islands. In total, these island have a surface of about 620 km², most of which is covered with ice.
The Inaccessible Islands about 15 nm to the west are also considered part of the South Orkneys.
The climate of the South Orkneys is generally cold, wet, and windy. The average temperatures top at 0°C and fall to about -10°C in winter (i.e., in July). The extrema reach about 12°C and -44°C, respectively.
History
The South Orkney Islands were discovered in 1821 by two sealers: the American Nathaniel Brown Palmer and the British George Powell. Powell named Coronation island thus because it was the year of the coronation of King George IV. He called the archipelago "Powell's group".
In 1823, James Weddell visited the islands, gave the archipelago its present name and also renamed some of the islands.
Subsequently, the islands were frequently visited by sealers and whalers, but no thorough survey was ever done until the expedition of William Speirs Bruce on the Scotia in 1903, which overwintered at Laurie Island. Bruce surveyed the islands, reverted some of Weddell's name changes, and established a meteorological station, which was turned over to Argentinian meteorologists upon his departure in 1904. This station, renamed Orcadas in 1951, is still in operation today and is thus the oldest research station continuously staffed in the Antarctic.
In 1908, the South Orkneys became part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies. The British Antarctic Survey opened a biological research station on Signy Island in 1947.
Both the UK and Argentina make territorial claims on the South Orkneys, but as they are further south than 60° S, the archipelago is subject to the Antarctic Treaty. Argentina refers to the islands as Orcadas Islands
See also
External links
- Description of Bruce's expedition (http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/scotia/vserm/vserm0503.htm)
- Gorgeous images (http://www.galenfrysinger.com/south_orkney_islands.htm)
de:Südliche Orkneyinseln it:Isole Orcadi Meridionali ja:サウス・オークニー諸島 nl:Zuidelijke Orkneyeilanden