Annenkov Island is to the west of the main island of
South Georgia
South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east� ...
. The
Pickersgill Islands
The Pickersgill Islands () are a small archipelago to the west of the main island of South Georgia. They are southeast of Annenkov Island and west-southwest of Leon Head, South Georgia.
History of Name
Annenkov Island was discovered in Janua ...
are to its southeast. It is irregularly shaped and long and high, lying off the south-central coast of South Georgia.
History
The island was discovered in January 1775 by a British expedition under
James Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...
, who named it Pickersgills Island for Lieutenant Richard Pickersgill of the expedition ship
HMS ''Resolution''. It was rediscovered in 1819 by a Russian expedition under
Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen
Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen (russian: Фадде́й Фадде́евич Беллинсга́узен, translit=Faddéy Faddéevich Bellinsgáuzen; – ) was a Russian naval officer, cartographer and explorer, who ultimatel ...
on the ''Vostok'', who, thinking he was the discoverer of the island, named it Annenkov Island for Lieutenant Mikhail Annenkov, officer on the expedition ship. The name Pickersgill has become established for a group of islands to the southeast—see
Pickersgill Islands
The Pickersgill Islands () are a small archipelago to the west of the main island of South Georgia. They are southeast of Annenkov Island and west-southwest of Leon Head, South Georgia.
History of Name
Annenkov Island was discovered in Janua ...
.
Discovery Investigations
The Discovery Investigations were a series of scientific cruises and shore-based investigations into the biology of whales in the Southern Ocean. They were funded by the British Colonial Office and organised by the Discovery Committee in London, ...
(DI) surveyed the area in the period 1926–30.
[ The under Harald Horntvedt, visited the area between 1927 and 1928.][ The island was surveyed by the ]South Georgia Survey
The South Georgia Survey was a series of expeditions to survey and map the island of South Georgia, led by Duncan Carse between 1951 and 1957.
Although South Georgia had been commercially exploited as a whaling station during the first half of ...
between 1951–1957. Many of its features were named by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee
The UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (or UK-APC) is a United Kingdom government committee, part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, responsible for recommending names of geographical locations within the British Antarctic Territory (BAT) an ...
(UK-APC) following these surveys. Others were named following a geological survey by the British Antarctic 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 ...
(BAS), 1972–73.
Geography
Except where noted, the following features were named by UK-APC.
Annenkov island is a rocky island with a number of ridges and hills, particularly toward the centre. The highest point is Olstad Peak, which rises to . Olstad Peak was named for Norwegian zoologist and expedition member Ola Olstad. An irregular ridge called Bareback Ridge extends north from Olstad Peak. The name stems from the absence of surficial material and vegetation from its top and sides.[ Towards the centre of the island, the McPherson Crags rise to . They were named for Ray McPherson, a ]British Antarctic 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 ...
(BAS) officer.[ To the east, Lawther Knoll is a rounded, ]scree
Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. Talus deposits typically ...
-covered hill rising to . It was named for BAS geologist Eric Lawther.[
First Point, charted and named by DI, is the northwest point of Annenkov Island.][ Mislaid Rock, first named on a 1931 ]British Admiralty
The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of i ...
chart, lies offshore to the southwest. The name appears to be first used on a 1931 British Admiralty
The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of i ...
chart.[
On the eastern arm of the island is a tussock-covered ridge called Albatross Crest, named for the ]wandering albatross
The wandering albatross, snowy albatross, white-winged albatross or goonie (''Diomedea exulans'') is a large seabird from the family Diomedeidae, which has a circumpolar range in the Southern Ocean. It was the last species of albatross to be desc ...
(''Diomedea exulans'') which nests here.[ On the north coast of the eastern tip of the island, Spilite Arch is a sea-worn arch formed by a pillar of rock high joined to the coastal cliffs by a ]spilite
Spilite (from el, σπιλάς) is a fine-grained igneous rock, resulting particularly from alteration of oceanic basalt.
The term was introduced into the geological literature by Alexandre Brongniart in 1827.Manfred Schidlowski: ''Spilite and t ...
sill
Sill may refer to:
* Sill (dock), a weir at the low water mark retaining water within a dock
* Sill (geology), a subhorizontal sheet intrusion of molten or solidified magma
* Sill (geostatistics)
* Sill (river), a river in Austria
* Sill plate, ...
.[
Towards the south end of the island, Pettigrew Scarp is an escarpment nearly long, which terminates to the southwest in a ridge, and in the northeast by three rock pinnacles. It was named for BAS geologist Timothy Pettigrew.]
South West Point marks the southwest point of Annenkov Island, and appears to have been first named on a chart based upon DI surveys undertaken in the period 1926–30. East of this point, Rustad Bay indents the island's southwest coast. It was named for Norwegian biologist Ditlef Rustad. West of the point, Horror Rock lies offshore. It was named from the circumstances of the rock's discovery by on February 21, 1961. The ship avoided striking the rock in rough weather and low visibility, passing within of heavy breakers.[
The island also contains some named freshwater lakes mapped and named by the British Antarctic Survey in 1972–73. Intrusion Lake, a long lake, is located north-northeast of Olstad Peak in the center of the island; it was named because its irregular shape is controlled by several intrusions of ]andesite
Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predo ...
along its north shore. Fan Lake is a small lake located in the southeast of the island. The lake is fed by meltwater and is bounded to the west by an alluvial fan
An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to semiarid climates, but a ...
, from which the name is derived.
The island is surrounded by reefs, including Hauge Reef
Hauge Reef is a chain of islands and rocks extending in an east-northeast direction from the eastern extremity of Annenkov Island to a point about west-southwest of Cape Darnley, South Georgia. It was first charted in 1819 by a Russian expedition ...
and Low Reef
Low Reef () is a reef extending for from the east end of Annenkov Island, which lies off South Georgia in the South Atlantic. The name "Low Rock" appeared on a 1931 Admiralty chart for the northeastern rock of this reef. The South Georgia Survey ...
to the east.
Wildlife
A site of special scientific interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...
, Annenkov always was and remains one of the few rat-free islands of the South Georgia
South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east� ...
archipelago, and as Bellinghausen lamented, there is "not a single shrub nor any vegetation" on the island. 500 wandering albatross pairs breed here.
See also
* Composite Antarctic Gazetteer
The Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica (CGA) of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is the authoritative international gazetteer containing all Antarctic toponyms published in national gazetteers, plus basic information about ...
* History of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
The history of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is relatively recent. When European explorers discovered the islands, they were uninhabited, and their hostile climate, mountainous terrain, and remoteness made subsequent settlement ...
* List of Antarctic islands north of 60° S
* Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is an interdisciplinary body of the International Science Council (ISC). SCAR coordinates international scientific research efforts in Antarctica, including the Southern Ocean.
SCAR's scien ...
References
Further reading
* Stonehouse, B (ed.) ''Encyclopedia of Antarctica and the Southern Oceans'' (2002, )
External links
*
{{Portal bar, Earth sciences, Geography, Weather
Islands of South Georgia
Uninhabited islands of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands