South Orkney Islands
Encyclopedia
The South Orkney Islands are a group of islands in the Southern Ocean
, about 604 kilometres (375.3 mi) north-east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula
. They have a total area of about 620 square kilometres (239.4 sq mi).
The islands have been part of the British Antarctic Territory
since 1962 (previously they were a Falkland Islands Dependency
), and the British Antarctic Survey
operates a base on Signy Island
. The islands are also claimed by Argentina
as part of the province of Tierra del Fuego, and the Argentine Navy has maintained a permanent base
on Laurie Island
since 1904. Apart from base personnel, there are no inhabitants. Under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, the Islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are open to any signatory for non-military use.
of King George IV
. In 1823, James Weddell
visited the Islands, gave the archipelago its present name (after the Orkney Islands
, Scotland
) and also renamed some of the islands. The South Orkney Islands are located at roughly the same latitude south as the Orkney Islands are north (60°S vs 59°N), although it is not known if this was a factor behind the naming of the islands.
Subsequently, the Islands were frequently visited by sealers and whaler
s, but no thorough survey was 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 sold to the Argentinian Government upon his departure in 1904. This base, renamed Orcadas
in 1951, is still in operation and is thus the oldest research station continuously staffed in the Antarctic.
In 1908, the United Kingdom
declared sovereignty over various Antarctic and South American territories "to the south of the 50th parallel of south latitude, and lying between the 20th and the 80th degrees of west longitude", including the South Orkney Islands. The Islands were subsequently administered as part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies
. A biological research station on Signy Island
was built in 1947 by the British Antarctic Survey. In 1962, the islands became part of the newly established British Antarctic Territory
.
The Argentinian claim to the islands dates from 1925. It was originally justified by the Argentinian occupation of the Laurie Island base and later subsumed into a wider territorial claim.
s about 60°30' to 60°83' S, and longitude
s 44°25' to 46°25' W in the Southern Ocean
. As a group of islands, the South Orkney Islands are located at approximately 60°35′S 045°30′W.
The archipelago
comprises four main islands. Coronation Island
is the largest island, measuring about 30 miles (48.3 km) long; its highest point is Mount Nivea
which rises to 4153 feet (1,265.8 m) above sea level. Laurie Island
is the easternmost of the islands. The other two main islands are Powell Island
and Signy Island
. Smaller islands in the group include Robertson Island
, the Saddle Islands
, and Acuna Island
. The total area of the archipelago is about 240 square miles (621.6 km²), of which about 90 percent is glaciated.
The Inaccessible Islands
about 15 nmi (17.3 mi; 27.8 km) to the west are also considered part of the South Orkneys.
The climate of the South Orkneys is generally cold, wet, and windy. Summers are short and cold (December to March) when the average temperatures reach about 2 °C (35.6 °F) and fall to about -10 °C in winter (i.e., in July). The extrema reach about 12 and -44 °C (53.6 and -47.2 °F) respectively. The seas around the islands are ice-covered from late April to November.
Despite the harsh conditions the islands do support vegetation and are part of the Scotia Sea
Islands tundra
ecoregion
, along with South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
, the South Shetland Islands
and Bouvet Island
. All these islands lie in the cold seas below the Antarctic convergence. These areas support tundra vegetation consisting of moss
es, lichen
s and algae
, while seabirds, penguins and seals feed in the surrounding waters.
South Orkney Trough is an undersea trough named in association with the South Orkney Islands
and approved 10/77 (ACUF 177).
Orcadas Base (since 1904 – bought as a meteorological station from Scottish scientist William Speirs Bruce
in 1904) Signy Island
(since 1947)
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...
, about 604 kilometres (375.3 mi) north-east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula
Antarctic Peninsula
The Antarctic Peninsula is the northernmost part of the mainland of Antarctica. It extends from a line between Cape Adams and a point on the mainland south of Eklund Islands....
. They have a total area of about 620 square kilometres (239.4 sq mi).
The islands have been part of the British Antarctic Territory
British Antarctic Territory
The British Antarctic Territory is a sector of Antarctica claimed by the United Kingdom as one of its 14 British Overseas Territories. It comprises the region south of 60°S latitude and between longitudes and , forming a wedge shape that extends to the South Pole...
since 1962 (previously they were a Falkland Islands Dependency
Falkland Islands Dependencies
Falkland Islands Dependencies was the constitutional arrangement for administering the British territories in Sub-Antarctica and Antarctica from 1843 until 1985.-Background:...
), and the British Antarctic Survey
British Antarctic Survey
The British Antarctic Survey is the United Kingdom's national Antarctic operation and has an active role in Antarctic affairs. BAS is part of the Natural Environment Research Council and has over 400 staff. It operates five research stations, two ships and five aircraft in and around Antarctica....
operates a base on Signy Island
Signy Island
Signy Island is a small sub-antarctic island in the South Orkney Islands group locted at . It is about long and wide and rises to above sea level. Much of the island is permanently covered with ice. The average temperature range is to about in winter...
. The islands are also claimed by Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
as part of the province of Tierra del Fuego, and the Argentine Navy has maintained a permanent base
Orcadas Base
Base Orcadas is an Argentine station in Antarctica, and the first permanent Antarctic station in the area defined by the Antarctic Treaty System. It is located on Laurie Island, one of the South Orkney Islands , at above sea level and from the coastline....
on Laurie Island
Laurie Island
Laurie Island is an island in the Antarctic Circle, the second largest of the South Orkney Islands. The island is claimed by both Argentina as part of Argentine Antarctica, and the United Kingdom as part of the British Antarctic Territory...
since 1904. Apart from base personnel, there are no inhabitants. Under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, the Islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are open to any signatory for non-military use.
History
The South Orkney Islands were discovered in 1821 by two sealers, Nathaniel Brown Palmer and George Powell. The Islands were originally named Powell's Group, with the main island named Coronation Island as it was the year of the coronationCoronation of the British monarch
The coronation of the British monarch is a ceremony in which the monarch of the United Kingdom is formally crowned and invested with regalia...
of King George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
. In 1823, James Weddell
James Weddell
James Weddell was a British sailor, navigator and seal hunter who in the early Spring of 1823 sailed to latitude of 74°15' S and into a region of the Southern Ocean that later became known as the Weddell Sea.-Early life:He entered the merchant service very...
visited the Islands, gave the archipelago its present name (after the Orkney Islands
Orkney Islands
Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
) and also renamed some of the islands. The South Orkney Islands are located at roughly the same latitude south as the Orkney Islands are north (60°S vs 59°N), although it is not known if this was a factor behind the naming of the islands.
Subsequently, the Islands were frequently visited by sealers and whaler
Whaler
A whaler is a specialized ship, designed for whaling, the catching and/or processing of whales. The former included the whale catcher, a steam or diesel-driven vessel with a harpoon gun mounted at its bows. The latter included such vessels as the sail or steam-driven whaleship of the 16th to early...
s, but no thorough survey was done until the expedition of William Speirs Bruce
William Speirs Bruce
William Speirs Bruce was a London-born Scottish naturalist, polar scientist and oceanographer who organised and led the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition to the South Orkney Islands and the Weddell Sea. Among other achievements, the expedition established the first permanent weather station...
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
Meteorology
Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw breakthroughs occur after observing networks developed across several countries...
station, which was sold to the Argentinian Government upon his departure in 1904. This base, renamed Orcadas
Orcadas Base
Base Orcadas is an Argentine station in Antarctica, and the first permanent Antarctic station in the area defined by the Antarctic Treaty System. It is located on Laurie Island, one of the South Orkney Islands , at above sea level and from the coastline....
in 1951, is still in operation and is thus the oldest research station continuously staffed in the Antarctic.
In 1908, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
declared sovereignty over various Antarctic and South American territories "to the south of the 50th parallel of south latitude, and lying between the 20th and the 80th degrees of west longitude", including the South Orkney Islands. The Islands were subsequently administered as part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies
Falkland Islands Dependencies
Falkland Islands Dependencies was the constitutional arrangement for administering the British territories in Sub-Antarctica and Antarctica from 1843 until 1985.-Background:...
. A biological research station on Signy Island
Signy Island
Signy Island is a small sub-antarctic island in the South Orkney Islands group locted at . It is about long and wide and rises to above sea level. Much of the island is permanently covered with ice. The average temperature range is to about in winter...
was built in 1947 by the British Antarctic Survey. In 1962, the islands became part of the newly established British Antarctic Territory
British Antarctic Territory
The British Antarctic Territory is a sector of Antarctica claimed by the United Kingdom as one of its 14 British Overseas Territories. It comprises the region south of 60°S latitude and between longitudes and , forming a wedge shape that extends to the South Pole...
.
The Argentinian claim to the islands dates from 1925. It was originally justified by the Argentinian occupation of the Laurie Island base and later subsumed into a wider territorial claim.
Geography and climate
The Islands are situated at latitudeLatitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
s about 60°30' to 60°83' S, and longitude
Longitude
Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....
s 44°25' to 46°25' W in the 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...
. As a group of islands, the South Orkney Islands are located at approximately 60°35′S 045°30′W.
The archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
comprises four main islands. Coronation Island
Coronation Island
Coronation Island is the largest of the South Orkney Islands, long and from wide. The island extends in a general east-west direction, is mainly ice-covered and comprises numerous bays, glaciers and peaks, the highest rising to...
is the largest island, measuring about 30 miles (48.3 km) long; its highest point is Mount Nivea
Mount Nivea
Mount Nivea is a conspicuous, snow-topped mountain, 1,265 m, at the head of Sunshine Glacier on Coronation Island, in the South Orkney Islands. A number of rock towers lie on the northwest side. Surveyed by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in 1948-49, and named by them for the snow petrel...
which rises to 4153 feet (1,265.8 m) above sea level. Laurie Island
Laurie Island
Laurie Island is an island in the Antarctic Circle, the second largest of the South Orkney Islands. The island is claimed by both Argentina as part of Argentine Antarctica, and the United Kingdom as part of the British Antarctic Territory...
is the easternmost of the islands. The other two main islands are Powell Island
Powell Island
Powell Island is a narrow island long and wide, lying between Coronation and Laurie Islands in the central part of the South Orkney Islands. Discovered on the occasion of the joint cruise by Capt. George Powell and Capt. Nathaniel Palmer in December 1821. It was correctly charted, though unnamed,...
and Signy Island
Signy Island
Signy Island is a small sub-antarctic island in the South Orkney Islands group locted at . It is about long and wide and rises to above sea level. Much of the island is permanently covered with ice. The average temperature range is to about in winter...
. Smaller islands in the group include Robertson Island
Robertson Island
Robertson Island is an ice-covered island, long in a northwest-southeast direction and wide, lying at the east end of the Seal Nunataks off the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. Captain Carl Anton Larsen discovered Robertson Island from the Jason on December 9, 1893...
, the Saddle Islands
Saddle Island, South Orkney Islands
Saddle Island is an island nearly long, consisting of twin summits which are almost separated by a narrow channel strewn with boulders, lying north of the west end of Laurie Island in the South Orkney Islands...
, and Acuna Island
Acuna Island
Acuña Island, also known as Delta Island, is a small island which lies south of Point Rae, off the south coast of Laurie Island in the South Orkney Islands. Charted in 1903 by the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition under William Speirs Bruce, who named it after Hugo A...
. The total area of the archipelago is about 240 square miles (621.6 km²), of which about 90 percent is glaciated.
The Inaccessible Islands
Inaccessible Islands (South Orkney Islands)
The Inaccessible Islands are a group of small precipitous islands ranging from high, the westernmost features of the South Orkney Islands, lying west of Coronation Island. The Inaccessible Islands are located at...
about 15 nmi (17.3 mi; 27.8 km) to the west are also considered part of the South Orkneys.
The climate of the South Orkneys is generally cold, wet, and windy. Summers are short and cold (December to March) when the average temperatures reach about 2 °C (35.6 °F) and fall to about -10 °C in winter (i.e., in July). The extrema reach about 12 and -44 °C (53.6 and -47.2 °F) respectively. The seas around the islands are ice-covered from late April to November.
Despite the harsh conditions the islands do support vegetation and are part of the Scotia Sea
Scotia Sea
The Scotia Sea is partly in the Southern Ocean and mostly in the South Atlantic Ocean.-Location and description:Habitually stormy and cold, the Scotia Sea is the area of water between Tierra del Fuego, South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands, South Orkney Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula, and...
Islands tundra
Tundra
In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...
ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
, along with South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote and inhospitable collection of islands, consisting of South Georgia and a chain of smaller islands, known as the South Sandwich...
, the South Shetland Islands
South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands, lying about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, with a total area of . By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the Islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for...
and Bouvet Island
Bouvet Island
Bouvet Island is an uninhabited Antarctic volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean, 2,525 km south-southwest of South Africa. It is a dependent territory of Norway and, lying north of 60°S latitude, is not subject to the Antarctic Treaty. The centre of the island is an ice-filled crater of an...
. All these islands lie in the cold seas below the Antarctic convergence. These areas support tundra vegetation consisting of moss
Moss
Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems...
es, lichen
Lichen
Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...
s and algae
Algae
Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
, while seabirds, penguins and seals feed in the surrounding waters.
South Orkney Trough is an undersea trough named in association with the South Orkney Islands
South Orkney Islands
The South Orkney Islands are a group of islands in the Southern Ocean, about north-east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. They have a total area of about ....
and approved 10/77 (ACUF 177).
Research stations
The two claimant nations maintain research stations on the Islands.Orcadas Base (since 1904 – bought as a meteorological station from Scottish scientist William Speirs Bruce
William Speirs Bruce
William Speirs Bruce was a London-born Scottish naturalist, polar scientist and oceanographer who organised and led the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition to the South Orkney Islands and the Weddell Sea. Among other achievements, the expedition established the first permanent weather station...
in 1904) Signy Island
Signy Island
Signy Island is a small sub-antarctic island in the South Orkney Islands group locted at . It is about long and wide and rises to above sea level. Much of the island is permanently covered with ice. The average temperature range is to about in winter...
(since 1947)
See also
- Acuña IslandAcuna IslandAcuña Island, also known as Delta Island, is a small island which lies south of Point Rae, off the south coast of Laurie Island in the South Orkney Islands. Charted in 1903 by the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition under William Speirs Bruce, who named it after Hugo A...
- Antarctica
- Composite Antarctic Gazetteer
- List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands
- 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
- Norway BightNorway BightNorway Bight is a bay 4 nautical miles wide indenting the south coast of Coronation Island between Meier Point and Mansfield Point, in the South Orkney Islands. The name appears on a chart by Petter Sorlle, Norwegian whaling captain who made a running survey of the South Orkney Islands in 1912-13....
- Orwell BightOrwell BightOrwell Bight is a body of water lying south of the eastern half of Coronation Island, bounded on the west by Signy Island and on the east by the Robertson Islands, in the South Orkney Islands. The general nature of this bight was first delineated by Petter Sorlle, Norwegian whaling captain who...
- Brisbane HeightsBrisbane HeightsBrisbane Heights are a series of heights rising to and extending in an arc from Worswick Hill to High Stile in the central part of Coronation Island, South Orkney Islands. The feature was named Brisbane Plateau following the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey survey of 1948–49, but resurvey in...
- Iceberg BayIceberg BayIceberg Bay is a bay 3 miles wide, which indents the south coast of Coronation Island between Cape Hansen and Olivine Point, in the South Orkney Islands. Named by Matthew Brisbane, who roughly charted the south coast of Coronation Island under the direction of James Weddell in 1823....
- Marshall BayMarshall BayMarshall Bay is a bay 2 nautical miles wide, lying between Capes Vik and Hansen on the south side of Coronation Island, in the South Orkney Islands. Roughly charted in 1912-13 by Petter Sorlle, Norwegian whaling captain. Recharted in 1933 by DI personnel on the Discovery II, who gave the name for...
- Lynch IslandLynch IslandLynch Island is an island lying in the east part of Marshall Bay, close off the south coast of Coronation Island in the South Orkney Islands. Roughly charted in 1912-13 by Petter Sorlle, a Norwegian whaling captain, and surveyed in 1933 by DI personnel...
- Moe IslandMoe IslandMoe Island is an island 1 nautical mile long separated from the southwest end of Signy Island by Fyr Channel, in the South Orkney Islands. Charted by Captain Petter Sorlle, 1912–13, and named after M. Thoralf Moe of Sandefjord, Norway, a contemporary whaling captain who worked in this area....
- Scotia SeaScotia SeaThe Scotia Sea is partly in the Southern Ocean and mostly in the South Atlantic Ocean.-Location and description:Habitually stormy and cold, the Scotia Sea is the area of water between Tierra del Fuego, South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands, South Orkney Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula, and...
- Wave PeakWave PeakWave Peak is a conspicuous peak, 960 m, which rises precipitously from the head of Laws Glacier in the central part of Coronation Island, in the South Orkney Islands. The feature has a prominent ridge running in a southwesterly direction. To the north and east it slopes gently to the level of...
- Scotia Ridge
