The Géologie Archipelago, also known as the Pointe Géologie Archipelago, Geology Archipelago or Cape Geology Archipelago, is a small archipelago of rocky islands and rocks close to the north of

Cape Géodésie Cape Géodésie () is a low, ice-covered point marked by prominent rock outcrops at its northeast end, lying northwest of the mouth of Astrolabe Glacier, Antarctica. It was photographed from the air by U.S. Navy Operation Highjump, 1946–47. It w ...

and

Astrolabe Glacier Tongue Astrolabe Glacier is a glacier wide and long, flowing north-northeast from the continental ice and terminating at the coast in a prominent tongue at the east side of Géologie Archipelago. History It was first sighted in 1840 by the French e ...

, extending from Helene Island on the west to the

Dumoulin Islands The Dumoulin Islands are a small group of rocky islands in the Antarctic region at the northeast end of the Géologie Archipelago, north of Astrolabe Glacier Tongue. On 22 January 1840, a French Antarctic expedition led by Captain Jules Dumon ...

on the east, in

Adélie Land Adélie Land ( ) or Adélie Coast is a Territorial claims in Antarctica, claimed territory of France located on the continent of Antarctica. It stretches from a portion of the Southern Ocean coastline all the way inland to the South Pole. Franc ...

, Antarctica.

History

The French expedition under Captain

Jules Dumont d'Urville Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (; 23 May 1790 – 8 May 1842) was a French List of explorers, explorer and French Navy, naval officer who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. As a botanist an ...

landed on Débarquement Rock in the Dumoulin Islands on 22 January 1840. Because rock samples were obtained, they gave the name "Pointe Géologie" to a coastal feature charted as lying south of Débarquement Rock. The archipelago was delineated, in part, from aerial photographs taken by the U.S. Navy's

Operation Highjump Operation HIGHJUMP, officially titled The United States Navy Antarctic Developments Program, 1946–1947, (also called Task Force 68), was a United States Navy (USN) operation to establish the Antarctic research base Little America (exploration b ...

in 1946–47. Following surveys by French Antarctic Expedition parties during the 1950–52 period, the French gave the name "Archipel de Pointe Géologie" to the entire archipelago, as d'Urville's coastal feature is believed to correlate with portions of the cluster of islands close to the north of Astrolabe Glacier Tongue. In 1952, a small base was built on

Île des Pétrels Petrel Island () is a rocky island, 900 m long and 45 m in elevation, which lies north-west of Rostand Island and is the largest feature in the cluster of islands at the south-eastern end of Géologie Archipelago. It was photographed ...

(Petrel Island) to study a nearby

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

emperor penguin The emperor penguin (''Aptenodytes forsteri'') is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is Endemism in birds, endemic to Antarctica. The male and female are similar in plumage and size, reaching in length and weighing fr ...

s. This base was called Base Marret. As the main base,

Port Martin Port Martin, or Port-Martin, is an abandoned French research base at Cape Margerie on the coast of Adélie Land, Antarctica, as well as the name of the adjacent anchorage. History The site was discovered in 1950 by the Fifth French Antarctic Ex ...

, was destroyed by fire on the night of 23 January 1952, Base Marret was chosen as the overwintering site for 1952–53. The new main base,

Dumont d'Urville Station The Dumont d'Urville Station () is a French scientific station in Antarctica on Île des Pétrels, Géologie Archipelago, archipelago of Pointe-Géologie in Adélie Land. It is named after exploration, explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville, whose expe ...

, was built on the same island, located west of Port Martin, and opened on 12 January 1956, to serve as a centre for French scientific research during the Antarctic

International Geophysical Year The International Geophysical Year (IGY; ), also referred to as the third International Polar Year, was an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War w ...

1957–58. The station has remained in active use ever since.

Antarctic Specially Protected Area

A site cluster in the heart of the Géologie Archipelago, south and east, and in the immediate vicinity, of Petrel Island, comprises

Jean Rostand Jean Edmond Cyrus Rostand (30 October 1894 – 4 September 1977) was a French biologist, historian of science, and philosopher. Active as an experimental biologist, Rostand became famous for his work as a science writer, as well as a philosopher ...

, Le Mauguen,

Claude Bernard Claude Bernard (; 12 July 1813 – 10 February 1878) was a French physiologist. I. Bernard Cohen of Harvard University called Bernard "one of the greatest of all men of science". He originated the term ''milieu intérieur'' and the associated c ...

and Lamarck Islands,

Bon Docteur Nunatak Bon Docteur Nunatak, also known as Good Doctor Nunatak, is a small coastal nunatak, high, standing at the west side of the Astrolabe Glacier Tongue, south of Rostand Island in the Géologie Archipelago of Antarctica. It was photographed from t ...

, and a breeding site of emperor penguins on the intervening

sea ice Sea ice arises as seawater freezes. Because ice is less density, dense than water, it floats on the ocean's surface (as does fresh water ice). Sea ice covers about 7% of the Earth's surface and about 12% of the world's oceans. Much of the world' ...

. The site is protected 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 ...

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 Antarc ...

(ASPA) No.120. It was designated as such because it contains representative examples of terrestrial Antarctic ecosystems. Apart from the emperor penguin colony, the only one of about 30 in Antarctica that lies close to a permanent research station, birds nesting in the area include

Adélie penguin The Adélie penguin (''Pygoscelis adeliae'') is a species of penguin common along the entire coast of the Antarctic continent, which is the only place where it is found. It is the most widespread penguin species, and, along with the emperor peng ...

s, Antarctic skuas,

Wilson's storm petrel Wilson's storm petrel (''Oceanites oceanicus''), also known as Wilson's petrel, is a small seabird of the austral storm petrel family Oceanitidae. It is one of the most abundant bird species in the world and has a circumpolar distribution mainly ...

southern giant petrel The southern giant petrel (''Macronectes giganteus''), also known as the Antarctic giant petrel, giant fulmar, stinker, and stinkpot, is a large seabird of the southern oceans. Its distribution overlaps broadly with the similar northern giant pe ...

snow petrel The snow petrel (''Pagodroma nivea'') is the only member of the genus ''Pagodroma.'' It is one of only three birds that have been seen at the Geographic South Pole, along with the Antarctic petrel and the south polar skua, which has the most s ...

s and

Cape petrel The pintado petrel (''Daption capense''), also called the Cape petrel, or Cape fulmar, is a common seabird of the Southern Ocean from the family Procellariidae. It is the only member of the genus ''Daption'', and is allied to the fulmarine petr ...

Weddell seal The Weddell seal (''Leptonychotes weddellii'') is a relatively large and abundant Earless seal, true seal with a Subantarctic, circumpolar distribution surrounding Antarctica. The Weddell seal was discovered and named in the 1820s during expediti ...

s also occur there.

Important Bird Area

A 37 ha site coincident with ASPA 120 has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because it supports about 3,600 pairs of

s as well as some 54,000 pairs of

s, based on 2013 estimates.

References

*
Map of Pointe Géologie archipelago, site of Service Hydrographique et Océanographique de la Marine
*
IGN Map of Pointe Géologie archipelago, site of Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, Documents, Historic Sites and Monuments
*
Map of Pointe Géologie archipelago and Cap Prud'homme, site of Institut Polaire
*

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Geologie Archipelago Archipelagoes of the Southern Ocean Islands of Adélie Land Antarctic Specially Protected Areas Seabird colonies Penguin colonies