The Argentine Islands are a group of islands in the

Wilhelm Archipelago The Wilhelm Archipelago is an island archipelago off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula in Antarctica. Wilhelm Archipelago consists of numerous islands, the largest of which are Booth Island and Hovgaard Island. The archipelago extends f ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

, situated southwest of

Petermann Island Petermann Island is a small, low and rounded island, lying off the northwest coast of Kyiv Peninsula in Graham Land, Antarctica, a short distance south of Booth Island and the Lemaire Channel. It is a popular tourist destination. Descriptio ...

, and northwest of

Cape Tuxen Cape Tuxen () is a rocky cape forming the south side of the entrance to Waddington Bay on Kyiv Peninsula, the west coast of Graham Land. Discovered and named by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition The Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–1899 ...

Kyiv Peninsula Kyiv Peninsula (, ) is the predominantly ice-covered, oval shaped peninsula projecting 35 km in northwest direction from the west side of Graham Land, Antarctic Peninsula. It is bounded by Flandres Bay to the northeast and Beascochea Bay to t ...

Graham Land Graham Land is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula that lies north of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This description of Graham Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the British Antarctic Place-names Committee and ...

. They were discovered by the

French Antarctic Expedition, 1903–05 The French Antarctic Expedition is any of several French expeditions in Antarctica. First expedition In 1772, Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec and the naturalist Jean Guillaume Bruguière sailed to the Antarctic region in search of the fable ...

, under

Jean-Baptiste Charcot Jean-Baptiste-Étienne-Auguste Charcot (15 July 1867 – 16 September 1936), born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, was a French scientist, medical doctor and polar scientist. His father was the neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–1893). Life Jean-Ba ...

, and named by him for the

Argentine Republic Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, in appreciation of that government's support of his expedition.

History

The British Graham Land Expedition under

John Riddoch Rymill John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

was based in the Argentine Islands in 1935 and conducted a thorough survey of them. The expedition built a hut on

Winter Island Winter Island is an island connected by a causeway to Salem Neck in Salem, Massachusetts. It is about in size, and is bounded by Smith Pool to the northwest, Cat Cove to the west, Salem Channel to the south and east, and Juniper Cove to the ...

, which was used as their northern base; it was left in place at the end of the expedition, but destroyed circa 1946. The following year, the British

Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...

established a permanent base on the same site, as " Base F" (or "Argentine Islands"); the main building from this base, Wordie House, is now a protected

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

(HSM-62). The base was moved to

Galindez Island Galindez Island ( uk, Ґаліндез) is an island long, lying immediately east of Winter Island in the Argentine Islands, Wilhelm Archipelago. It was discovered by the French Antarctic Expedition, 1903–05, under Jean-Baptiste Charcot, who ...

in 1954, renamed "Faraday" in 1977, and transferred to the Ukrainian Antarctic program in 1996, who continue to operate it as

Vernadsky Research Base The Vernadsky Research Base ( uk, Антарктична станція Академік Вернадський) is a Ukrainian Antarctic Station at Marina Point on Galindez Island in the Argentine Islands, not far from Kyiv Peninsula. The regi ...

Climate

The Argentine Islands have a

polar climate The polar climate regions are characterized by a lack of warm summers but with varying winters. Every month in a polar climate has an average temperature of less than . Regions with polar climate cover more than 20% of the Earth's area. Most of ...

that lies in the transition zone between an ice cap climate and a tundra climate, displaying an unusually continental version of that climate for being on the ocean.

List of islands

* Black Island * Corner Island *

Corner Rock Galindez Island ( uk, Ґаліндез) is an island long, lying immediately east of Winter Island in the Argentine Islands, Wilhelm Archipelago. It was discovered by the French Antarctic Expedition, 1903–05, under Jean-Baptiste Charcot, who ...

* Skua Island *

References

{{Authority control Islands of the Wilhelm Archipelago

History

Climate

List of islands

See also

References