Southwest Anvers Island and Palmer Basin is a 3275 km²

Antarctic Specially Managed Area An Antarctic Specially Managed Area (ASMA) is a protected area on the continent of Antarctica, or on its adjacent islands. ASMAs are managed by the governments of Brazil, Poland, Ecuador, Peru, United States, New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Spain, U ...

(ASMA 7). It lies towards the northern end 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 ...

, encompassing the south-western coastline of

Anvers Island Anvers Island or Antwerp Island or Antwerpen Island or Isla Amberes is a high, mountainous island long, the largest in the Palmer Archipelago of Antarctica. It was discovered by John Biscoe in 1832 and named in 1898 by the Belgian Antarctic E ...

, in the

Palmer Archipelago Palmer Archipelago, also known as Antarctic Archipelago, Archipiélago Palmer, Antarktiske Arkipel or Palmer Inseln, is a group of islands off the northwestern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. It extends from Tower Island in the north to Anvers ...

, with the adjacent deep marine waters of the Palmer Basin, the shallower

Bismarck Strait The Bismarck Strait is a channel in Antarctica. It is located between the southern end of Anvers and Wiencke Islands and the Wilhelm Archipelago. It was surveyed in 1874 by First Antarctic German expedition under Captain Eduard Dallmann. This c ...

, and fringing island groups.

Description

Features of the south-west coastline of Anvers Island include the United States’

Palmer Station Palmer Station is a United States research station in Antarctica located on Anvers Island, the only US station located north of the Antarctic Circle. Initial construction of the station finished in 1968. The station, like the other U.S. Antarcti ...

Arthur Harbour Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more ...

- an

LTER The Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER) consists of a group of over 1800 scientists and students studying ecological processes over extended temporal and spatial scales. Twenty-eight LTER sites cover a diverse set of ecosystems. It is par ...

site and the principal logistical centre for research within AMSA 7, as well as the ice cliffs of the Marr Ice Piedmont, the ice-free Capes Monaco and Lancaster, and

Biscoe Point Biscoe Point is a rocky point forming the south-eastern side of Biscoe Bay, immediately north of Access Point on the south side of Anvers Island, in the Palmer Archipelago of Antarctica. History The French Antarctic Expedition under Jean-Baptiste ...

. The waters of the Palmer Basin extend to a maximum depth of over 1400 m and are surrounded by shallower waters mostly no more than 600 m deep. The island groups include the Rosenthal and

Joubin Islands The Joubin Islands are a group of small islands lying south-west of Cape Monaco, Anvers Island, at the south-western end of the Palmer Archipelago of Antarctica. The islands were discovered by the French Antarctic Expedition, 1903–05, under ...

to the north of the Basin, as well as the Wauwermans,

Dannebrog Dannebrog (until the mid-20th century often spelled Danebrog) may refer to: Flags and orders * The national Flag of Denmark * Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen, links=no), a Royal Danish decoration Places * Dannebrog Island, an i ...

and Vedel Islands of the

Wilhelm Archipelago The Wilhelm Archipelago is an island archipelago off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula in Antarctica. Wilhelm Archipelago consists of numerous islands, the largest of which are Booth Island and Hovgaard Island. The archipelago extends f ...

to the east and south. The area also contains several small coastal islands in the vicinity of Cape Monaco and Palmer Station. Sixteen sites within the area have had access to them restricted in order to protect their natural values and others have been identified as

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

s. Two have been given additional protection as

Antarctic Specially Protected Area An Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) is an area on the continent of Antarctica, or on nearby islands, which is protected by scientists and several different international bodies. The protected areas were established in 1961 under the Antarct ...

s –

Litchfield Island Litchfield Island is a rocky island long and rising to , lying in Arthur Harbour, south of Norsel Point, off the south-west coast of Anvers Island in the Palmer Archipelago of Antarctica. History Litchfield Island was surveyed by the Falklan ...

(ASPA 113) and Biscoe Point (ASPA 139). The area contains diverse and accessible assemblages of terrestrial and marine flora and fauna which have been subject to long-term monitoring, with some datasets covering much of the last century, with intensive scientific interest beginning in the 1950s. Studies include monitoring of bird and seal populations, surveys of terrestrial and sub-tidal environments, investigations into the

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

and behaviour of birds, seals, terrestrial

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s and

zooplankton Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...

, as well as

oceanography Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamic ...

, marine

sedimentology Sedimentology encompasses the study of modern sediments such as sand, silt, and clay, and the processes that result in their formation (erosion and weathering), transport, deposition and diagenesis. Sedimentologists apply their understanding of mo ...

and

geomorphology Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...

. The area is exceptionally important for long-term studies of both natural variability and human impact on Antarctic ecosystems, and for understanding the linkages among birds,

krill Krill are small crustaceans of the order Euphausiacea, and are found in all the world's oceans. The name "krill" comes from the Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in n ...

dynamics and the changing marine habitat.

References

Antarctic Specially Managed Areas Oceanic basins of the Southern Ocean Geography of Anvers Island Landforms of the Palmer Archipelago Wilhelm Archipelago {{AnversIsland-geo-stub