Penguin Island (South Shetland Islands)

Penguin Island
King George Island
Penguin Island
Location of Penguin Island
Penguin Island
Penguin Island (Antarctica)
Geography
Location Antarctica
Coordinates 62°06′00″S 57°55′41″W / 62.10000°S 57.92806°W / -62.10000; -57.92806Coordinates: 62°06′00″S 57°55′41″W / 62.10000°S 57.92806°W / -62.10000; -57.92806
Length 1.7 km (1.06 mi)
Width 1.4 km (0.87 mi)
Highest elevation 180 m (590 ft)
Highest point Deacon Peak
Administration
Administered under the Antarctic Treaty System
Demographics
Population Uninhabited
Penguin Island
Highest point
Elevation 180 m (590 ft)
Coordinates 62°06′S 57°56′W / 62.10°S 57.93°W / -62.10; -57.93 
Geography
Location Antarctica
Topo map USGS
Geology
Mountain type Stratovolcano
Last eruption 1905 (?)

Penguin Island (also known as Georges Island, Île Pingouin, Isla Pingüino, and Penguin Isle) is one of the smaller of the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica.

History

Penguin Island was sighted in January 1820 by a British expedition under Edward Bransfield, and so named by him because penguins occupied the shores of the island.[1]

Description

The island, which is ice-free and oval shaped, 1.4 km (0.87 mi) wide by 1.7 km (1.1 mi) long, lies close off the south coast of the much larger King George Island, and marks the eastern side of the entrance to King George Bay. It has a shoreline of low cliffs, with a beach on the north coast providing access. There is a small lake in the north-east.[2] It is capped by Deacon Peak, a basaltic scoria cone. Deacon Peak was last thought to be active about 300 years ago. Petrel Crater, a maar crater, is located on the east side of the island, and is thought to have last erupted in or around 1905.[3]

Important Bird Area

The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a wide range of seabirds including a breeding colony of over 600 pairs of southern giant petrels. Other birds nesting at the site include Adélie and chinstrap penguins, Antarctic terns and kelp gulls. Weddell and southern elephant seals regularly haul out.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Penguin Island". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
  2. 1 2 "Penguin Island, King George Island". BirdLife data zone: Important Bird Areas. BirdLife International. 2013. Retrieved 2013-01-13.
  3. ↑ LeMasurier, W. E.; Thomson, J. W., eds. (1990). Volcanoes of the Antarctic Plate and Southern Oceans. American Geophysical Union. p. 512 pp. ISBN 0-87590-172-7. |Club Penguin

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "Penguin Island (South Shetland Islands)" (content from the Geographic Names Information System).


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