Pendulum Cove is a

cove A cove is a small type of bay or coastal inlet. Coves usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creeks, or recesses in a coast are o ...

at the north-east side of

Port Foster Port Foster is one of the safest harbours in Antarctica, located in Deception Island in the South Shetland Islands. History The harbour was known to sealers as early as 1820, and in its early history was called ''Port Williams'', after Captain ...

Deception Island Deception Island is an island in the South Shetland Islands close to the Antarctic Peninsula with a large and usually "safe" natural harbor, which is occasionally troubled by the underlying active volcano. This island is the caldera of an acti ...

, 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 1 ...

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 cont ...

. The name of the cove derives from the pendulum and magnetic observations made there by the British expedition under Henry Foster in 1829.

Historic site

Base Aguirre Cerda, a Chilean metereological and volcanological

research station Research stations are facilities where scientific investigation, collection, analysis and experimentation occurs. A research station is a facility that is built for the purpose of conducting scientific research. There are also many types of resea ...

in Pendulum Cove, opened in February 1955. It was destroyed by

volcanic eruptions Several types of volcanic eruptions—during which lava, tephra (ash, lapilli, volcanic bombs and volcanic blocks), and assorted gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure—have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often ...

in 1967 and 1969. Since 2001 the ruins of the station have been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 76), following a proposal by Chile to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.

Caleta Péndulo Refuge

''Caleta Péndulo Refuge'' was an Antarctic refuge located on the coast of Pendulum Cove, in

in the

. The refuge was inaugurated on November 19, 1947 by the Argentine Navy. It was the first refuge built by the Argentine Armed Forces in Antarctica. The construction took place during the second Argentine Antarctic campaign in the summer of 1947–1948 in support of the construction of

Deception Station Deception Station ( es, Base Decepción) is an Argentine antarctic base located at Deception Island, South Shetland Islands. History The station was founded on January 25, 1948, and was a year-round station until December 1967 when volcanic e ...

, which was inaugurated on January 25, 1948 on the opposite side of the island. Years later, in 1955 Chile installed the Aguirre Cerda Base a few hundred meters from the refuge. A volcanic eruption on December 4, 1967, devastated the Chilean base and the Argentine refuge. The name of the cove, which was also given to the refuge, recalls the magnetic observations made with pendulums in the place by the British expedition headed by Henry Foster in 1828.

Antarctic Specially Protected Area

The cove forms part of an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA 140), comprising several separate sites on Deception Island, and designated as such primarily for its botanic and ecological values.

References

Geography of Deception Island Pendulum Cove Antarctic Specially Protected Areas Historic Sites and Monuments of Antarctica {{DeceptionIsland-geo-stub

Historic site

Caleta Péndulo Refuge

Antarctic Specially Protected Area

See also

References