The Flatvaer Islands ( no, Flatvær, meaning "flat islands"), also known as the Ongul Islands, are a group of small islands lying at the east side of the entrance of

Lützow-Holm Bay Lützow-Holm Bay is a large bay, about wide, indenting the coast of Queen Maud Land in Antarctica between Riiser-Larsen Peninsula and the coastal angle immediately east of the Flatvaer Islands. It was discovered by Captain Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen ...

, 4 km from the

coastline The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

of Antarctica. They were mapped by Norwegian cartographers from air photos taken by the Lars Christensen Expedition (LCE), 1936–37. Many of the islands and their features were subsequently named by members of the

Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition The refers to a series of Japanese Antarctic expeditions for scientific research. The first JARE expedition was launched in 1957 to coordinate with the International Geophysical Year. This was the team which left 15 dogs, including Taro and Ji ...

(JARE); unless otherwise noted, features noted in this article were named by JARE. The Flatvaer Islands are separated from

by Ongul Sound, which is wide and named in association with Ongul Island. On its east margin, opposite East Ongul Island, sits a small cluster of rocks called the Mukai Rocks. The name ''Mukai-iwa'', meaning "facing rocks" or "opposite rocks," was given by JARE Headquarters in 1972.

Ongul and East Ongul Islands

The largest of the Flatvaer Islands is Ongul Island, at long. When initially surveyed, the LCE believed this island to be connected to

East Ongul Island East Ongul Island is an island in the Flatvaer Islands off of Antarctica. It is long, lying immediately east of the northern part of Ongul Island at the east side of the entrance of Lutzow-Holm Bay. East Ongul Island this island was original ...

, a island immediately east of the northern part of Ongul Island. The LCE applied the name "Ongul" ("

fishhook A fish hook or fishhook, formerly also called angle (from Old English ''angol'' and Proto-Germanic ''*angulaz''), is a hook used to catch fish either by piercing and embedding onto the inside of the fish mouth (angling) or, more rarely, by impa ...

"), which is suggestive of the outline of the two islands when taken together. In 1957, the

(JARE) discovered that "Ongul" was actually two islands, separated by the Nakano-seto Strait, meaning "central strait". The name Ongul Island was retained for the largest island in the group, and the smaller island was given the name East Ongul Island. Showa Station, a

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese permanent research station, was built on East Ongul Island in 1957. Lake O-ike ("big pond") is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in the east extremity of Ongul Island, so named because it is the largest lake on the island. Shōwa Flat is a small flattish area along the northwest shore of the lake. It was named Shōwa-taira (" Emperor Hirohito's era flat"), presumably in association with Showa Station.

Minor islands

The northwesternmost island of the Flatvaer Islands is Utholmen Island, meaning "the outer island". Meholmen Island, meaning "the middle island", sits between Utholmen and Ongul. Both were named by LCE personnel. East Ongul Island is separated from nearby Nesøya ("the point island") to the north by the Kitano-seto Strait ("northern strait"). Nesøya is long, and lies close off the north point of East Ongul Island. It was named by LCE personnel. Antenna Island, named by JARE in 1972, is a tiny island in the strait between Nesøya and East Ongul. Just northwest of the Nakano-seto Strait is a cluster of small islands: Wakadori Island ("young-bird island"), Hiyoko Island ("baby chick island"), and Mendori Island ("hen island"). Mendori Island was named in association with nearby Ondori Island ("rooster island"), which sits north of Ongul Island. Pollholmen, which is long, is situated off the southeast side of East Ongul Island. LCE personnel named it Pollholmen, meaning "bay island", presumably because of its location opposite the narrow inlet or bay separating Ongul and East Ongul. To the south, narrow Minamino-seto Strait ("southern strait") separates Ongul Island from the Te Islands, a group of three small islands and several nearby rocks. Norwegian cartographers, working from air photos taken by LCE personnel, initially mapped the three main islands as one in error, giving it the name Teoya ("tea island"). JARE personnel later determined the feature was actually be a cluster of islands, but retained the name Te for the group. Ongulgalten Island, meaning "the

boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is no ...

", was named by LCE in association with Ongul Island. It is the northernmost of the cluster. Ongulkalven Island lies west of Ongul Island, separated by Nishino-seto Strait ("western strait"). The island was named "Ongulkalven" ("the

calf") in association with Ongul Island by LCE. Kurumi Island ("walnut island") sits between Ongulkalven and Ongul in the strait. Mame Island ("bean island") lies west of Ongul.

References

{{Authority control Islands of Queen Maud Land Prince Harald Coast