D'Urville Island is an island of

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 ...

. It is the northernmost

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

of the

Joinville Island group Joinville Island group is a group of antarctic islands, lying off the northeastern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, from which Joinville Island group is separated by the Antarctic Sound. Joinville Island, located at , is the largest island of the ...

, long, lying immediately north of

Joinville Island Joinville Island is the largest island of the Joinville Island group, about long in an east-west direction and wide, lying off the northeastern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, from which it is separated by the Antarctic Sound. Joinville Isla ...

, from which it is separated by

Larsen Channel Larsen Channel is a strait 1 to 3 miles wide between D'Urville Island and Joinville Island, off the northeastern end of the Antarctic Peninsula. Larsen Channel was discovered in 1902 by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition under Otto Nordenskiöld an ...

. The single island was charted in 1902 by the

Swedish Antarctic Expedition The Swedish Antarctic Expedition of 1901–1903 was a scientific expedition led by Otto Nordenskjöld and Carl Anton Larsen. It was the first Swedish endeavour to Antarctica in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Background Otto Nordensk ...

under

Otto Nordenskiöld Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fro ...

, who named it for

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Jules Dumont d'Urville Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (; 23 May 1790 – 8 May 1842) was a French explorer and naval officer who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, and Antarctica. As a botanist and cartographer, he gave his nam ...

, French

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

who discovered land in the

. Burden Passage separates D'Urville Island from

Bransfield Island Bransfield Island is an island nearly long, lying southwest of D'Urville Island off the northeast end of the Antarctic Peninsula. The name "Point Bransfield", after Edward Bransfield, Master, Royal Navy, was given in 1842 by a British expediti ...

References

Islands of the Joinville Island group {{JoinvilleIsland-geo-stub

See also

References