Vortex Island () 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 ...

0.5 nautical miles (0.9 km) long and 245 m high, lying in the northeast part of

Prince Gustav Channel The Prince Gustav Channel was named in 1903 after Crown Prince Gustav of Sweden (later King Gustav V) by Otto Nordenskiöld of the Swedish Antarctic Expedition. The channel is bounded on the west by the Antarctic Peninsula and on the east by James ...

about 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) west-southwest of

Corry Island Corry Island is an island long and high, lying off the south coast of the Trinity Peninsula between Vega Island and Eagle Island. This is believed to be the feature sighted by a British expedition under James Clark Ross, 1839–43, and named ...

, close south of

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 ...

. Islands in this area were first seen by a party under J. Gunnar Andersson of the Swedish Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04. Vortex Island was first charted by the

Falkland Islands Dependencies 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 ...

(FIDS) in August 1945. The FIDS survey party was forced to lie idle there by a whirlwind snowstorm, thus suggesting the name.

Geology

Vortex Island is composed of

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

volcanic rocks of the James Ross Island Volcanic Group, consisting of a tuya or moberg, which is a volcano erupted under an icecap. Yellow layers are

palagonite Palagonite is an alteration product from the interaction of water with volcanic glass of chemical composition similar to basalt. Palagonite can also result from the interaction between water and basalt melt. The water flashes to steam on contact w ...

weathering of steeply dipping

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

layers, whereas black layers are

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

flows and

pillow basalts Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of a ...

References

Islands of Trinity Peninsula Tuyas of Antarctica Pleistocene volcanoes Volcanic islands {{TrinityPeninsula-geo-stub

Geology

See also

References