The Prince Gustav Channel was named in 1903 after Crown Prince Gustav of Sweden (later King Gustav V) by

Otto Nordenskiöld Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded f ...

of the

Swedish Antarctic Expedition The Swedish Antarctic Expedition of 1901–1903 was a scientific expedition led by Otto Nordenskjöld and Carl Anton Larsen. It was the first Swedish endeavour to Antarctica in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Background Otto Nordensk ...

. The channel is bounded on the west by the Antarctic Peninsula and on the east by

James Ross Island James Ross Island is a large island off the southeast side and near the northeastern extremity of the Antarctic Peninsula, from which it is separated by Prince Gustav Channel. Rising to , it is irregularly shaped and extends in a north–south ...

. It is about long and ranges from wide. On 27 February 1995, the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) reported that an

ice shelf An ice shelf is a large floating platform of ice that forms where a glacier or ice sheet flows down to a coastline and onto the ocean surface. Ice shelves are only found in Antarctica, Greenland, Northern Canada, and the Russian Arctic. The ...

formerly blocking the channel had disintegrated. This ice shelf had spanned approximately prior to its disintegration. In the area previously covered by the shelf, the channel's water depth is between . Between February and March 2000, scientists collected sediment cores 5 to 6 m in length from the ocean floor. Carbon dating of organic material found in the sediment layers suggested that for a period between 2,000 and 5,000 years ago, much of the channel was seasonally open water. While icebergs were able to navigate the channel,

ice rafted debris Ice rafting is the transport of various materials by ice. Various objects deposited on ice may eventually become embedded in the ice. When the ice melts after a certain amount of drifting, these objects are deposited onto the bottom of the water ...

was deposited within the sediment. Prince Gustav Ice Shelf retreated in the mid-Holocene period 5000 to 2000 years before present,

his His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, in ...

"corresponds to regional climate warming deduced from other paleoenvironmental records." It appears that before and after this period, the channel remained closed. The period when the channel was open coincides with a period of local warming supported by data gathered from land-based studies of lake sediments and ancient, abandoned penguin rookeries. With the return of colder conditions about 1900 years ago, the Prince Gustav Ice Shelf reformed until its recent retreat and collapse. Ice shelves are sensitive indicators of regional

climatic change ''Climatic Change'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media covering cross-disciplinary work on all aspects of climate change and variability. It was established in 1978 and the editors-in-chie ...

, therefore recent warming in the vicinity of the Prince Gustav Channel is exceptional for at least the past 1900 years.

San Nicolás Refuge

San Nicolás Refuge () is an Argentine Antarctic refuge located on the north coast of the entrance to the Prince Gustav Channel, on the

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 ...

, at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The refuge is administered by the

Argentine Army The Argentine Army ( es, Ejército Argentino, EA) is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the commander- ...

and was inaugurated on 12 September 1963. It is one of the 18 shelters that are under the responsibility of the

Esperanza Base ("Permanence, an act of sacrifice") , pushpin_map = Antarctica , pushpin_map_alt = Location of Esperanza Base in Antarctica , pushpin_map_caption = Location of Esperanza Base in Antarctica , pushpin_mapsize ...

, which is responsible for the maintenance and the care. The Argentine Antarctic Program reports that the refuge is inactive.

References

{{Antarctica Channels of the Southern Ocean Straits of Graham Land Landforms of James Ross Island

San Nicolás Refuge

See also

References