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Antarctic Specially Protected Area
An Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) is an area on the continent of Antarctica, or on nearby islands, which is protected by scientists and several different international bodies. The protected areas were established in 1961 under the Antarctic Treaty System The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. It was the first arms ..., which governs all the land and water south of 60 latitude and protects against human development. A permit is required for entry into any ASPA site. The ASPA sites are protected by the governments of Australia, New Zealand, United States, United Kingdom, Chile, France, Argentina, Poland, Russia, Norway, Japan, India, Italy, and Republic of Korea. There are currently 72 sites. List of ASPA sites See ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe, and has an area of . Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average thickness of . Antarctica is, on average, the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and it has the highest average elevation. It is mainly a polar desert, with annual Climate of Antarctica#Precipitation, precipitation of over along the coast and far less inland. About 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen in Antarctica, which, if melted, would raise global sea levels by almost . Antarctica holds the record for the Lowest temperature recorded on Earth, lowest measured temperature on Earth, . The coastal regions can reach temperatures over in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dion Islands
The Dion Islands are a group of small islands and rocks lying in the northern part of Marguerite Bay, south-west of Cape Alexandra, Adelaide Island, off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. They were discovered by the French Antarctic Expedition, 1908–10, and named by Jean-Baptiste Charcot for the Marquis Jules-Albert de Dion, who donated three motor sledges and whose De Dion-Bouton works produced equipment for the expedition. It is also the site of a memorial of three lost men from the British Antarctic Syrvey who died in 1958 after a fierce storm drifted the men on the ice they were camped on drifted out to open sea. Important Bird Area The islands have been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because they support a breeding colony of about 500 pairs of imperial shags. There is also a small colony of about 150 pairs of emperor penguins, the second-most northerly known of this species (the most northerly being Snow Hill Island) and o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Harbor
Arthur Harbour () is a small harbour entered between Bonaparte Point and Amsler Island on the south-west coast of Anvers Island in the Palmer Archipelago of Antarctica. History Arthur Harbour was roughly charted by the French Antarctic Expedition (1903–1905) under Jean-Baptiste Charcot. It was surveyed in more detail in 1955 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS), who established a station near the head of the harbour. It was named by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-names Committee (UK-APC) in 1956 after Oswald Raynor Arthur, then Governor of the Falkland Islands. Station N Arthur Harbour was the location of the British research Station N, which was active from 28 February 1955 to 10 January 1958. The Station was loaned to the United States government on 2 July 1963. In January 1965, it was converted into a biological laboratory for use by American personnel from nearby Palmer Station. Station N was destroyed by fire on 28 December 1971, while under renovation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Litchfield Island
Litchfield Island is a rocky island long and rising to , lying in Arthur Harbour, south of Norsel Point, off the south-west coast of Anvers Island in the Palmer Archipelago of Antarctica. History Litchfield Island was surveyed by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS) in 1955. It was named by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-names Committee (UK-APC) for Douglas B. Litchfield of the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS), general assistant and mountaineer at the Arthur Harbour station in 1955, who helped with the local survey and made numerous soundings through the sea ice in the vicinity of the island. Environment The island, together with its littoral zone, possesses an unusually high collection of marine and terrestrial life and is unique amongst the neighboring islands as a breeding place for six species of native birds. It provides an outstanding example of the natural ecological system of the Antarctic Peninsula area. In addition, Litchfield Island posse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands located in the Drake Passage 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 System, Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories. According to British government language on the topic, "the whole of Antarctica is protected in the interests of peace and science." The islands have been claimed by three countries, beginning with the United Kingdom since 1908 (since 1962 as part of the equally unrecognized British Antarctic Territory). The islands are also claimed by the governments of Chile (since 1940, as part of the Antártica Chilena province), and by Argentina (since 1943, as part of Argentine Antarctica, Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina, Tierra del Fuego Province). Several countries ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Island
Robert Island or Mitchells Island or Polotsk Island or Roberts Island is an island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ... long and wide, situated between Nelson Island (South Shetland Islands), Nelson Island and Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Robert Island is located at . Its surface area is . The name "Robert Island" dates back to around 1821 and is now established in international usage. Much of the Coppermine Peninsula in the west of the island is made up by a perched strandflat erosion surface, surface that was at sea level in the past. Captain Richard Fildes may have named Robert Island for his brig . Fildes was seal hunting, sealing in the South Shetlands in 1821–1822 until ice destroyed his vessel in March 1822. Fildes Strait is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coppermine Peninsula
Coppermine Peninsula is the rugged, rocky promontory forming the northwest extremity of Alfatar Peninsula and Robert Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. It lies between the English Strait to the west and Carlota Cove to the east. It is 1.7 km long, 500 m wide and rising to 105 m. Coppermine Peninsula is linked to Alfatar Peninsula to the southeast by a narrow isthmus bounded by Carlota Cove to the north and the 1 km wide and 460 m indenting ''Coppermine Cove'' () to the south. The feature is named in association with the adjacent Coppermine Cove, a descriptive name given by sealers in about 1821 from the copper-coloured staining of the lavas and tuffs in the area. Antarctic Specially Protected Area The Coppermine Peninsula has a regime of special environmental protection under the Antarctic Treaty System. All land west of a north-south line across the isthmus between Carlota Cove and Coppermine Cove, has been designated an Antarctic Specially Protec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Powell Island
Powell Island is a narrow island long and wide, lying between Coronation and Laurie Islands in the central part of the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica. Its southern end lies 7 km east of the south-western extremity of Coronation Island, between Lewthwaite Strait and Washington Strait. A steep-sided rocky ridge forms the western part of the island; to the east of it lies a broad icy piedmont which is visibly supported in the east by a few low-lying rock outcrops., History The island was discovered in the course of the joint cruise by Captains George Powell and Nathaniel Palmer in December 1821. It was correctly charted, though unnamed, on Powell's map published in 1822; it was subsequently named for Powell on an Admiralty chart of 1839. Birds An area including part of southern Powell Island (south of John Peaks on Coronation Island), along with neighbouring Christoffersen, Fredriksen, Michelsen and Grey Islands, with some other (unnamed) islands lying offshore, h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lynch Island
Lynch Island is an island lying in the eastern part of Marshall Bay, close off the south coast of Coronation Island in the South Orkney Islands, Antarctica. History The island was roughly charted in 1912–13 by Petter Sørlle, a Norwegian whaling captain, and surveyed in 1933 by Discovery Investigations personnel. The island was resurveyed in 1948–49 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey and named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee for Thomas Lynch, an American seal hunting, sealer who visited the South Orkney Islands in the schooner ''Express'' in 1880. Antarctic Specially Protected Area The island has been designated an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA 110) for its biological values, especially its relatively luxuriant plant community, plant communities. The continent's only two flowering plants, Deschampsia antarctica, Antarctic hair grass and Colobanthus quitensis, Antarctic pearlwort, are abundant. The soils associated with the grass swards contain a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Orkney Islands
The South Orkney Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands, islands in the Southern Ocean, about north-east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula''Antarctica: Secrets of the Southern Continent'' p. 122 , David McGonigal, 2009 and south-west of South Georgia Island. They have a total area of about . The islands are claimed both by Britain (as part of the British Antarctic Territory since 1962, previously as a Falkland Islands Dependencies, Falkland Islands Dependency) and by Argentina (as part of Argentine Antarctica). Under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, sovereignty claims are held in abeyance. Britain and Argentina both maintain bases on the islands. The Argentine base, Orcadas Base, Orcadas, established in 1904, is sited on Laurie Island. The 11 buildings ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moe Island
Moe Island is an island long in the South Orkney Islands off Antarctica, separated from the south-west end of Signy Island by Fyr Channel. It was charted by Captain Petter Sørlle in 1912–13, and named after M. Thoralf Moe of Sandefjord, Norway, a contemporary whaling captain who worked in this area. The northernmost point of the island is Spaull Point, named by United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC) after Vaughan W. Spaull, British Antarctic Survey (BAS) biologist on Signy Island, 1969. Antarctic Specially Protected Area The island has been designated an Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA 109) mainly for its biological values, especially the banks of ''Chorisodontium''–''Polytrichum'' moss turf and ''Andreaea''–''Usnea '' fellfield. The cryptogamic flora is diverse, though in places the moss turf is subject to damage by Antarctic fur seals. The mites ''Stereotydeus villosus'' and ''Gamasellus racovitzai'', as well as the springtail ''Cryptopygus anta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berthelot Islands
The Berthelot Islands are a group of rocky islands, the largest long, lying south-west of Deliverance Point, off the west coast of Graham Land, Antarctica. They were discovered by the French Antarctic Expedition, 1903–05, under Jean-Baptiste Charcot, and named by him for Marcellin Berthelot, a prominent French chemist. One of the group, Green Island, is protected as Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) No.108 because of its relatively luxuriant vegetation and large Antarctic shag colony. See also * List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands This is a list of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands. * Antarctic islands are, in the strict sense, the islands around mainland Antarctica, situated on the Antarctic Plate, and south of the Antarctic Convergence. According to the terms of the A ... * Urchin Rock References Islands of Graham Land Graham Coast {{GrahamCoast-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
