Saunders Island is a crescent-shaped island long, lying between Candlemas Island and

Montagu Island Montagu Island ( es, Isla Jorge) is the largest of the South Sandwich Islands, located in the Scotia Sea off the coast of Antarctica. It is a part of the British Overseas Territory, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It is located no ...

in 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 ...

, a British Overseas Territory in the southern

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. It is a volcanic island composed of an active stratovolcano, Mount Michael.

History

Saunders Island was discovered in 1775 by Captain James Cook, who named it for Sir Charles Saunders, First Lord of the Admiralty. It was charted in greater detail by

Bellingshausen Bellingshausen may refer to: * Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen (1778–1852), Baltic German explorer and officer in the Russian navy, after whom are named: ** Bellingshausen Plate, a tectonic plate ** Bellingshausen Sea, off the Antarctic Penins ...

in 1819, and 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, ...

(DI) personnel aboard ''Discovery II''. The island was surveyed in 1964 by . Polar explorer

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ...

sometimes misspells the island's name as "Sanders Island" in his book '' South''.

Features

The centre of the island is Mount Michael, a volcano known to have erupted explosively in 1819, and has erupted repeatedly since 2000, most recently in 2005. The diameter summit crater contains a persistent

lava lake Lava lakes are large volumes of molten lava, usually basaltic, contained in a volcanic vent, crater, or broad depression. The term is used to describe both lava lakes that are wholly or partly molten and those that are solidified (someti ...

, one of only eight in the world. On the east coast of the island is Sombre Point, the island's northeast point. The name applied by

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) an ...

(UK-APC) in 1971 refers to the dark and dull aspect of the basaltic rock and ash in this vicinity. Cordelia Bay is a small

bight The word is derived from Old English ''byht'' (“bend, angle, corner; bay, bight”). In modern English, bight may refer to: * Bight (geography), recess of a coast, bay, or other curved feature * Bight (knot), a curved section, slack part, or loo ...

which along the entire east side of the island. It was charted in 1930 by DI personnel and named for Cordelia Carey, daughter of ''Discovery II'' captain Commander W.M. Carey. West of Sombre Point are the Yellowstone Crags, a group of crags which are eroded into striking pinnacles. The name applied by UK-APC in 1971 refers to the yellow colour of the

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...

rocks and their craggy topography. Ollivant Point and Carey Point have both been referred to as the island's westernmost point. Both were named by UK-APC, for Martin Ollivant, Captain of HMS ''Protector'' at the time of her survey of the island, and Commander Carey, respectively.

References

* *
Volcano World: Mount Michael
Islands of the South Sandwich Islands Uninhabited islands of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands {{SouthGeorgia-geo-stub

History

Features

See also

References