Scott Island
Encyclopedia
Scott Island is a small uninhabited island
of volcanic origin in the Ross Sea
, Southern Ocean
, 505 kilometres (313.8 mi) northeast of Cape Adare
, the northeastern extremity of Victoria Land
, Antarctica. It is 565 metres (617.9 yd) long north-south, and between 130 metres (142.2 yd) and 340 metres (371.8 yd) wide, reaching a height of 54 metres (177.2 ft) and covering an area of 4 hectares (9.9 acre). Haggits Pillar
, a stack
reaching 62 metres (203.4 ft) in height and measuring 50 metres (54.7 yd) in diameter, yielding an area of less than 0.2 hectare (0.494210326030552 acre), is located 250 metres (273.4 yd) west of the island. The island has two small coves with beaches, the rest of the island being surrounded by high cliffs. One of the coves is on the northeastern coast and the other opposite Haggitts Pillar on the western coast of the island.
The island was discovered and landed upon on 25 Dec 1902 by captain William Colbeck
, commander of the SY Morning
, the relief ship for Robert Scott
's expedition
. Colbeck originally planned to name the island Markham Island, after Sir Clements Markham
but later decided to name it after Scott. Haggits Pillar is named after Colbeck's mother's family name, Haggit. In 2006, a mapping expedition to the Ross Sea found the islands 2.3 km north of their previously determined position.
Scott Island is part of the Ross Dependency
, claimed by New Zealand
(see Territorial claims of Antarctica).
There was an automatic weather station
on the island from December 1987 to March 1999.
The records show an average temperature of a few °C (°F) below 0 °C (32 °F) in summer, and down to -40 °C in winter.
On 12 Feb 2009 Andrew Perry and Molly Kendall, crew members of the MY Steve Irwin, were married on the island by captain Paul Watson
.
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
of volcanic origin in the Ross Sea
Ross Sea
The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land.-Description:The Ross Sea was discovered by James Ross in 1841. In the west of the Ross Sea is Ross Island with the Mt. Erebus volcano, in the east Roosevelt Island. The southern part is covered...
, Southern Ocean
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60°S latitude and encircling Antarctica. It is usually regarded as the fourth-largest of the five principal oceanic divisions...
, 505 kilometres (313.8 mi) northeast of Cape Adare
Cape Adare
Cape Adare is the northeastern most peninsula in Victoria Land, East Antarctica. The cape separates the Ross Sea to the east from the Southern Ocean to the west, and is backed by the high Admiralty Mountains...
, the northeastern extremity of Victoria Land
Victoria Land
Victoria Land is a region of Antarctica bounded on the east by the Ross Ice Shelf and the Ross Sea and on the west by Oates Land and Wilkes Land. It was discovered by Captain James Clark Ross in January 1841 and named after the UK's Queen Victoria...
, Antarctica. It is 565 metres (617.9 yd) long north-south, and between 130 metres (142.2 yd) and 340 metres (371.8 yd) wide, reaching a height of 54 metres (177.2 ft) and covering an area of 4 hectares (9.9 acre). Haggits Pillar
Haggits Pillar
Haggits Pillar is a stack high in the South Pacific Ocean at the northwestern edge of Ross Sea, lying west of Scott Island and some north-northeast of Cape Adare, Victoria Land, Antarctica...
, a stack
Stack (geology)
A stack is a geological landform consisting of a steep and often vertical column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast, isolated by erosion. Stacks are formed through processes of coastal geomorphology, which are entirely natural. Time, wind and water are the only factors involved in the...
reaching 62 metres (203.4 ft) in height and measuring 50 metres (54.7 yd) in diameter, yielding an area of less than 0.2 hectare (0.494210326030552 acre), is located 250 metres (273.4 yd) west of the island. The island has two small coves with beaches, the rest of the island being surrounded by high cliffs. One of the coves is on the northeastern coast and the other opposite Haggitts Pillar on the western coast of the island.
The island was discovered and landed upon on 25 Dec 1902 by captain William Colbeck
William Colbeck (seaman)
William Colbeck was a British seaman who distinguished himself on two Antarctic expeditions.-Biography:Educated at Hull Grammar School, Colbeck served a merchant navy apprenticeship between 1886 and 1890, earning his second mate's certificate in 1890, first mate's certificate in 1892, master's in...
, commander of the SY Morning
SY Morning
SY Morning is most famous for her role as a relief vessel to Scott's British National Antarctic Expedition . She made two voyages to the Antarctic to resupply the expedition.-Acquisition for the British National Antarctic Expedition:...
, the relief ship for Robert Scott
Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
's expedition
Discovery Expedition
The British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04, generally known as the Discovery Expedition, was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since James Clark Ross's voyage sixty years earlier...
. Colbeck originally planned to name the island Markham Island, after Sir Clements Markham
Clements Markham
Sir Clements Robert Markham KCB FRS was an English geographer, explorer, and writer. He was secretary of the Royal Geographical Society between 1863 and 1888, and later served as the Society's president for a further 12 years...
but later decided to name it after Scott. Haggits Pillar is named after Colbeck's mother's family name, Haggit. In 2006, a mapping expedition to the Ross Sea found the islands 2.3 km north of their previously determined position.
Scott Island is part of the Ross Dependency
Ross Dependency
The Ross Dependency is a region of Antarctica defined by a sector originating at the South Pole, passing along longitudes 160° east to 150° west, and terminating at latitude 60° south...
, claimed by New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
(see Territorial claims of Antarctica).
There was an automatic weather station
Automatic weather station
An automatic weather station is an automated version of the traditional weather station, either to save human labour or to enable measurements from remote areas...
on the island from December 1987 to March 1999.
The records show an average temperature of a few °C (°F) below 0 °C (32 °F) in summer, and down to -40 °C in winter.
On 12 Feb 2009 Andrew Perry and Molly Kendall, crew members of the MY Steve Irwin, were married on the island by captain Paul Watson
Paul Watson
Paul Watson is a Canadian animal rights and environmental activist, who founded and is president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a direct action group devoted to marine conservation....
.
See also
- Composite Antarctic Gazetteer
- List of Antarctic islands south of 60° S
- SCARScientific Committee on Antarctic ResearchThe Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research is an interdisciplinary body of the International Council for Science . It was established in February 1958 to continue the international coordination of Antarctic scientific activities that had begun during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58...
- Territorial claims in Antarctica
External links
- Birds observed at Scott Island, Ross Sea, Antarctica
- Gerhard Wörner and Giovanni Orsi (1990). Volcanic observations on Scott Island in the Antarctic Ocean, Polarforschung, 60 (2), 82–83.