Zavodovski Island is an uninhabited

volcanic island Geologically, a high island or volcanic island is an island of volcanic origin. The term can be used to distinguish such islands from low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the uplifting of coral reefs (which have often formed ...

in the

Traversay Islands The Traversay Islands ( es, Archipiélago Marqués de Traverse) are a group of three islands— Zavodovski, Leskov and Visokoi—at the northern end of the South Sandwich Islands. History The group was discovered in November 1819 by a Russian ...

subgroup of the

South Sandwich Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = , song = , image_map = South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in United Kingdom.svg , map_caption = Location of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Oce ...

. It lies southeast of

South Georgia Island South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east� ...

. It is the northernmost of the South Sandwich Islands and the nearest to South Georgia. The island is home to around a million pairs of breeding chinstrap penguins, which is the largest number of penguins found anywhere besides Antarctica. Zavodovski Island oblique

History

Zavodovski Island was discovered and named by

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...

explorer

Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen (russian: Фадде́й Фадде́евич Беллинсга́узен, translit=Faddéy Faddéevich Bellinsgáuzen; – ) was a Russian naval officer, cartographer and explorer, who ultimately ...

on December 23, 1819. Bellingshausen named it after Captain-Lieutenant , who was captain of his ship, the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from a ...

sloop-of-war In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' enc ...

Vostok Vostok refers to east in Russian but may also refer to: Spaceflight * Vostok programme, Soviet human spaceflight project * Vostok (spacecraft), a type of spacecraft built by the Soviet Union * Vostok (rocket family), family of rockets derived from ...

''. A group of three members of the expedition, Captain-Lieutenant Ivan Zavadovskiy, astronomer Prof. Ivan Simonov, and Lieutenant Dmitriy Demidov, landed on the island on December 24, 1820 and collected speciments of volcanic rocks, and caught some birds and penguins. The American

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

''Pacific'' under Captain James Brown landed at Zavodovski Island in 1830. The island was surveyed in 1930 by

Discovery Investigations The Discovery Investigations were a series of scientific cruises and shore-based investigations into the biology of whales in the Southern Ocean. They were funded by the British Colonial Office and organised by the Discovery Committee in London, wh ...

(DI) personnel. The island's penguin colony was featured in the "Frozen Seas" episode of the 2001

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

nature documentary series ''

The Blue Planet ''The Blue Planet'' is a British nature documentary series created and produced by the BBC. It premiered on 12 September 2001 in the United Kingdom. It is narrated by David Attenborough. Described as "the first ever comprehensive series on the ...

.'' It was subsequently featured in the "Islands" episode of the 2016 follow-up documentary ''

Planet Earth II ''Planet Earth II'' is a 2016 British nature documentary series produced by the BBC as a sequel to ''Planet Earth'', which was broadcast in 2006. The series is presented and narrated by Sir David Attenborough with the main theme music composed b ...

''. A volcanic eruption was identified on the island on 2 May 2012, though the size of the eruption is unknown. The volcano erupted again in March 2016; by July, between one third and one half of the island was covered in ash, putting the penguin colonies at risk.

Geography

Plume from Zavodovski volcano (7128666611)

The island is largely

unglaciated A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

. It is approximately across with a peak elevation of above sea level. Many of the island's headlands have been charted and named, generally in recognition of the island's odorous volcanic fumes. Unless noted otherwise, the following names were applied by the

United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee The UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (or UK-APC) is a United Kingdom government committee, part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, responsible for recommending names of geographical locations within the British Antarctic Territory (BAT) and ...

(UK-APC). Low-lying Reek Point is the island's northernmost point. Pacific Point is a small rounded point on the island's northwest side. It was initially named Low Point by DI personnel, but was renamed for the ''Pacific'' in 1953 by UK-APC to avoid redundancy with other similarly named features. Low-lying Acrid Point is found to the southwest. Stench Point is a conspicuous point forming the west extremity of the island. Originally named West Bluff in by DI personnel, it was renamed in 1971 by UK-APC to avoid duplication. Noxious Bluff is a dark bluff high on the island's southwest coast. Fume Point is a low-lying lava feature forming the island's southern point. Pungent Point, a low, dark-colored lava cliff, forms the island's east point. Mount Asphyxia, a

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...

also known as Mount Curry, dominates the western side of the island while the eastern half is a low-lying lava plain. It is an active volcano, with fresh

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...

reported in 1830 and numerous indications of activity since. Approximately 50% of the island is composed of

tephra Tephra is fragmental material produced by a volcanic eruption regardless of composition, fragment size, or emplacement mechanism. Volcanologists also refer to airborne fragments as pyroclasts. Once clasts have fallen to the ground, they rem ...

, a fragmental material produced by volcanic eruptions.

History

Geography

See also

Notes

References

Further reading