Astrolabe Island, located at , is an

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 ...

long, lying in the

Bransfield Strait Bransfield Strait or Fleet Sea ( es, Estrecho de Bransfield, Mar de la Flota) is a body of water about wide extending for in a general northeast – southwest direction between the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. History ...

northwest of

Cape Ducorps Cape Ducorps () is a point marking the north end of Cockerell Peninsula on the north coast of Trinity Peninsula. It was discovered by the French Antarctic Expedition, 1837–40, under Captain Jules Dumont d'Urville Jules Sébastien César D ...

Trinity Peninsula Trinity Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Antarctic Peninsula. It extends northeastward for about 130 km (80 mi) to Cape Dubouzet from an imaginary line connecting Cape Kater on the north-west coast and Cape Longing on the sou ...

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 was discovered by the French expedition, 1837–40, under Captain

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 ...

, and named by him for his chief expedition ship, the ''

Astrolabe An astrolabe ( grc, ἀστρολάβος ; ar, ٱلأَسْطُرلاب ; persian, ستاره‌یاب ) is an ancient astronomical instrument that was a handheld model of the universe. Its various functions also make it an elaborate inclin ...

''. The island was photographed from the air and triangulated by FIDASE, 1956–57.

Geology

Astrolabe Island is predominantly volcanic rocks, with coarse grained mafic dolerite making up most of the landing site on the east end. The steep pyramid peaks, called the Dragons Teeth, may be the vents of an old volcanic complex, probably related to the Shetland subduction zone to the north.Joseph Holliday, Geology Professor, El Camino College

Maps

Trinity Peninsula.
Scale 1:250000 topographic map No. 5697. Institut für Angewandte Geodäsie and British Antarctic Survey, 1996.
Antarctic Digital Database (ADD).
Scale 1:250000 topographic map of Antarctica. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). Since 1993, regularly upgraded and updated.

References

Astrolabe Island.
SCAR Composite Antarctic Gazetteer.

Footnotes

* Islands of Trinity Peninsula Trinity Peninsula Islands of Graham Land {{TrinityPeninsula-geo-stub

Geology

See also

Maps

References

Footnotes