The Guébriant Islands (Spanish: Islotes Guébriant) are two islands west of the

Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martín in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctic ...

, in the northern part of

Marguerite Bay Marguerite Bay or Margaret Bay is an extensive bay on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula, which is bounded on the north by Adelaide Island and on the south by Wordie Ice Shelf, George VI Sound and Alexander Island. The mainland coast on th ...

, lying southeast of Cape Alexandra, the southeast cape of

Adelaide Island Adelaide Island is a large, mainly ice-covered island, long and wide, lying at the north side of Marguerite Bay off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. The Ginger Islands lie off the southern end. Mount Bodys is the easternmost mount ...

. They were discovered by the fourth French Antarctic Expedition 1908–1910 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 as "Îlots de Guébriant" after the Reverend Jean Budes de Guébriant, a French Catholic missionary to China. The islands were surveyed by the Falklands Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS, the predecessor of 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 ...

) in 1948. They were recharted by a Royal Navy Hydrographic Survey Unit in 1963. Both islands have an elongated shape, stretching in a north east to south west direction. The smaller (northernmost) island is about 500 m long, 200 m wide and has a highest point of 92 meters. The southern island has a similar width and is about 1100 m long. It is much lower. The islands are separated by a channel about 200 m wide. In summer they become virtually ice free. About 1 km to the south-southeast of the islands lies Mission Rock, also named after missionary de Guébriant. Mission Rock is not considered part of the Guébriant Islands proper. Argentina, Chile and the United Kingdom all consider the islands to be part of their national territory, as they fall within the overlapping

Antarctic territorial claims Seven sovereign states – Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom – have made eight territorial claims in Antarctica. These countries have tended to place their Antarctic scientific observation and s ...

of all three nations. However, there is no physical presence of any of these nations on the islands. On a clear day, the islands can be seen from Rothera Research Station, a distance of about 28 km (see picture).

Flora and fauna

A publication from 1995 attempting to list all the breeding sites of the

snow petrel The snow petrel (''Pagodroma nivea'') is the only member of the genus ''Pagodroma.'' It is one of only three birds that has been seen at the Geographic South Pole, along with the Antarctic petrel and the south polar skua, which have the most so ...

(''Pagodroma nivea'') in Antarctica mentions the Guébriant Islands as a possible breeding site, based on a single observation from 1962. The vegetation of the islands consists of moss patches of the genera ''

Brachythecium ''Brachythecium'' is a genus of mosses belonging to the family Brachytheciaceae. The genus was first described by Wilhelm Philippe Schimper. Species The following species are recognised in the genus ''Brachythecium'': * '' Brachythecium albicans ...

'', '' Bryum'' and '' Drepanocladus'', among other things. In these moss communities the most abundant

nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhab ...

s are from the genera '' Plectus'' and '' Aphenchoides''. In moss patches of ''Drepanocladus'' these worms may number 428,000 per square meter in just the uppermost 2.5 cm. ''Alectoria minuscula '' f.'' biformis'', a species of

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.Lecanora ''Lecanora'' is a genus of lichen commonly called rim lichens.Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 2014, Lichens in the genus ''Squamarina'' are also called rim lichens. Members of the genus have roughly ci ...

'', was found on the leeward slope of the southern Guébriant island at an altitude of 61 metres in 1961.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guebriant Islands Islands of Adelaide Island

Flora and fauna

See also

References