The Zed Islands are a small group of islands, the westernmost rising to , lying off the northeast extremity of
Livingston Island
Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...
in the
South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 195 ...
,
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 ...
comprising four islands:
Esperanto Island,
Phanagoria Island,
Lesidren Island
Lesidren Island ( bg, остров Лесидрен, ostrov Lesidren, ) is the second largest and southernmost island in the Zed group off the north coast of Varna Peninsula, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The isl ...
and
Koshava Island
Koshava Island ( bg, остров Кошава, ostrov Koshava, ) is the easternmost island in the Zed group off Varna Peninsula, northeastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The island is ice-free, extending . Si ...
, and the adjacent
Dlagnya and
Goritsa Rocks. The group is separated from
Williams Point
Williams Point is the point forming both the north extremity of Varna Peninsula and the northeast tip of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Separated from Zed Islands to the north by Iglika Passage.
The discovery of ...
on
Varna Peninsula
Varna Peninsula ( bg, полуостров Варна, poluostrov Varna, ) is a roughly rectangular predominantly ice-covered peninsula forming the northeast extremity of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. It is bound ...
,
Livingston Island
Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...
to the south by the wide
Iglika Passage.
The name appears to have been applied 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 ...
personnel on the ''
Discovery II
''Discovery II'', built in 1971, is the second of three Discovery sternwheel riverboats operated by the Riverboat Discovery company. ''Discovery II'' is still in use as a tour vessel on the Chena and Tanana rivers near Fairbanks, Alaska.
Hist ...
'' who charted the islands in 1935.
Location
The midpoint of the group is located at (British mapping in 1935 and 1968, Chilean in 1971, Argentine in 1980, Spanish in 1991, and Bulgarian in 2005 and 2009).
Map
* L.L. Ivanov
Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich, Robert, Snow and Smith Islands Scale 1:120000 topographic map. Troyan: Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2009.
See also
*
Composite Antarctic Gazetteer
The Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica (CGA) of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) is the authoritative international gazetteer containing all Antarctic toponyms published in national gazetteers, plus basic information about t ...
*
List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands
*
List of Antarctic islands south of 60° S
*
SCAR
A scar (or scar tissue) is an area of fibrous tissue that replaces normal skin after an injury. Scars result from the biological process of wound repair in the skin, as well as in other organs, and tissues of the body. Thus, scarring is a na ...
*
Territorial claims in Antarctica
Seven sovereign states – Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom – have made eight territorial claims in Antarctica. These countries have tended to place their Antarctic scientific observation and st ...
References
External links
SCAR Composite Antarctic Gazetteer
Islands of the South Shetland Islands
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