King George Island (South Shetland Islands)

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King George Island (Argentinian Spanish: Isla 25 de Mayo, Chilean Spanish: Isla Rey Jorge, Russian: Ватерло́о Vaterloo) is the largest of the South Shetland Islands, lying Template:Convert off the coast of Antarctica in the Southern Ocean. The island was named after King George III.

Geography

King George Island has three major bays, Maxwell Bay, Admiralty Bay, and King George Bay. Admiralty Bay contains three fjords, and is protected as an Antarctic Specially Managed Area under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Admiralty Bay

The Fildes Peninsula, Template:Convert long, forms the southwest extremity of the island. It was named from association with nearby Fildes Strait by the UK-APC in 1960.

History

Chilean scientistsTemplate:Who? claim that Amerinds visited the area, citing stone artifacts recovered from bottom-sampling operations in Admiralty Bay;<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> however, the artifacts—two arrowheads—were later found to have been planted.<ref name=AMD>Template:Cite web Template:PD-notice</ref><ref name=Griffiths>Template:Cite book</ref>

The island was first claimed for Britain on 16 October 1819, formally annexed<ref>Odd Gunnar Skagestad. Norsk Polar Politikk: Hovedtrekk og Utvikslingslinier, 1905–1974. Oslo: Dreyers Forlag, 1975</ref><ref>Thorleif Tobias Thorleifsson. Bi-polar international diplomacy: The Sverdrup Islands question, 1902–1930. Template:Webarchive Master of Arts Thesis, Simon Fraser University, 2004.</ref><ref>Robert K. Headland, The Island of South Georgia, Cambridge University Press, 1984.</ref> by Britain as part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies in 1908, and now as part of the separate British Antarctic Territory. The island was claimed by Chile in 1940 as part of the Chilean Antarctic Territory. It was also claimed by Argentina in 1943, and now as part of Argentine Antarctica, called by the Argentines Isla Veinticinco de Mayo (25 May) in honour of their National Day. The US and Russia do not recognize any Antarctic claim, but have formally reserved their right to claim Antarctic territories for themselves.

The island was discovered and named by the British explorer William Smith in 1819, who named it after the then King, George III.<ref name=campbell>Campbell, David G. (2002). The Crystal Desert: Summers in Antarctica, p. 4. Houghton-Mifflin Books. Template:ISBN.</ref> It is approximately Template:Convert long and Template:Convert wide with a land area of Template:Convert. Over 90% of the island's surface is permanently glaciated.<ref name="campbell"/> In 1821, 11 men of the sealing vessel Lord Melville survived the winter on the island, the first men to do so in Antarctica.<ref>Mills, William James (2003). Exploring Polar Frontiers: A Historical Encyclopedia, p. 353. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, Inc. Template:ISBN.</ref>

Chile (like Argentina and the United Kingdom) regards all of the Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands as part of that country's territory; however, the terms of the Antarctic Treaty allow Chile to colonize the Fildes Peninsula without overtly pursuing its territorial claims.<ref>National Geographic, December 2001</ref>

Ecology

Collins Glacier, King George Island

The coastal areas of the island are home to a comparatively diverse selection of animal life, including elephant, Weddell, and leopard seals, and Adelie, chinstrap and gentoo penguins. Several other seabirds, including skuas and southern giant petrel, nest on this island during the summer months.

In 1971, Denis C. Lindsay published Vegetation of the South Shetland Islands, and in doing so was the first professional botanist to outline the flora of King George Island. Only two vascular plants are known to grow on the island - Antarctic hair grass and Antarctic pearlwort. The flora is otherwise dominated by lichens and mosses. Ryszard Ochyra reports in his 1998 publication that there are 61 distinct species of moss found on the island, which is considered rich for the latitude. This makes King George Island "one of the most muscologically diverse areas in the Antarctic".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Human activity

Junk on the shoreline at Bellingshausen Station

Settlements

Construction of China's first antarctic base in January 1985, the Great Wall Station.

Human habitation of King George Island is limited to research stations belonging to Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, South Korea, Peru, Poland, Russia, Uruguay, and the United States.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Most of these stations are permanently staffed, carrying out research in areas as diverse as biology, ecology, geology, and palaeontology.

Chilean base Frei and Russian Bellingshausen (on the right)

Base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva, the Chilean Station on the Fildes Peninsula, is operated as a permanent village with an airstrip (with large hangar and control tower along with other buildings), cafeterias for personnel of its several agencies there, a bank, a post office and comfortable ranch-style family homes with children. The Chinese Great Wall base features an indoor multipurpose room which serves as a full-size basketball court.Template:Cn

In 2004, a Russian Orthodox church, Trinity Church, was opened on the island near Russia's Bellingshausen Station. The church, one of the southernmost in the world and one of the few permanent structures in Antarctica, is permanently staffed by a priest.Template:Cn The first attempted murder in Antarctica occurred on the island in 2018 at Bellingshausen Station.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Point Thomas lighthouse at Arctowski Station is the most southerly lighthouse of the world.<ref>ANTARCTICA FROM A-Z geocities.com/antarcticaaz</ref>

NOAA runs Lenie Base, a seasonal research station for penguin studies on Admiralty Bay. This small station, dubbed Copacabana, operates in the Antarctic summer only, but is used as a survival hut in the winter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Tourism

In October 2013, American heavy metal band Metallica announced that it would perform a concert sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company at Carlini Station heliport.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The concert took place on 8 December 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A small amount of specialised tourist activity also takes place during summer, including an annual marathon, known as the Antarctic marathon.

Climate

The Antarctic Peninsula and its nearby islands are considered to have the mildest living conditions in Antarctica. The island's climate is strongly influenced by the surrounding ocean.<ref name=AARI>Template:Cite web</ref> Under the Köppen system, it is one of the few locations in Antarctica classified as a tundra climate rather than an ice cap climate.<ref name=Peel>Template:Cite journal</ref> Variation in temperatures are small, with the coldest month, July, averaging Template:Convert and Template:Convert in the warmest month.<ref name=AARIclimate>Template:Cite web</ref> With only 591.3 hours of sunshine per year, the weather is often unsettled and cloudy throughout the year, with precipitation in the form of snow, rain, and drizzle occurring often.<ref name=AARI /> On average, 729 mm of precipitation falls per year.<ref name=AARI /> Template:Weather box

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See also

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References

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Bibliography

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