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| Disputed island | |
|---|---|
 South Sandwich Islands | |
 Location of the South Sandwich Islands | |
| Geography | |
| Coordinates | 56°36′S027°43′W / 56.600°S 27.717°W /-56.600; -27.717 |
| Archipelago | South Sandwich Islands |
| Total islands | 11 |
| Area | 310 km2 (120 sq mi) |
| Administration | |
| Overseas Territory | South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands |
| Claimed by | |
| Province | Tierra del Fuego |
| Demographics | |
| Population | Uninhabited |
TheSouth Sandwich Islands (Spanish:Islas Sandwich del Sur) are a chain of uninhabited volcanic islands in theSouth Atlantic Ocean. They are administered as part of theBritish Overseas Territory ofSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The chain lies in thesub-Antarctic region, about 700 kilometres (430 mi) southeast ofSouth Georgia and 1,700 kilometres (1,100 mi) northeast from the tip of theAntarctic Peninsula.
The archipelago comprises 11 main islands forming anisland arc running north–south, the largest beingMontagu at 110 square kilometres (42 sq mi). It is divided into four groups, from north to south: TheTraversay,Candlemas and Central Islands (Saunders,Montagu, andBristol), andSouthern Thule.
The archipelago is prone to violentearthquakes. Over the previous century, nine M 7+ earthquakes have occurred here, the most recent being theM 8.1 in August 2021.[1] None of these earthquakes are known to have caused fatalities due to their remote location.
The southern eight islands of the Sandwich Islands Group were discovered byJames Cook in 1775. The northern three were discovered byFabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen in 1819.[clarification needed (seetalk)]
Departing from South Georgia, Captain Cook sailed to the southeast to discoverClerke Rocks and a group of islands which he named "Sandwich Land" in honour ofLord Sandwich, thenFirst Lord of the Admiralty. The word "South" was later added to distinguish them from the "Sandwich Islands", now known asHawai'i.
TheTraversay Islands (Zavodovski,Leskov andVisokoi) were discovered by theImperial Russian Navy expedition ofBellingshausen andLazarev in the shipsVostok andMirny in 1819.
The United Kingdom formally annexed the South Sandwich Islands throughletters patent in 1908, grouping them with other British-held territory in Antarctica as theFalkland Islands Dependencies.
Argentina claimed the South Sandwich Islands in 1938 and challenged British sovereignty in the islands on several occasions. From 25 January 1955 through the summer of 1956 Argentina maintained the summer station Teniente Esquivel at Ferguson Bay on the southeastern coast ofThule Island. From 1976 to 1982, Argentina maintained a naval base namedCorbeta Uruguay in the lee (southern east coast) of the same island. Although the British discovered the presence of the Argentine base in 1976, protested, and tried to resolve the issue by diplomatic means, no effort was made to remove them by force until after theFalklands War. The base was eventually removed on 20 June 1982 and the installations were demolished in December of that year.
Since 1995, the South African Weather Bureau has maintained twoautomatic weather stations on the islands of Zavodovski and Thule.
The territory of "South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands" was formed in 1985;[2] previously, both archipelagos had been governed as part of theFalkland Islands Dependencies.
On 10 February 2008, an earthquake of magnitude 6.5 on theRichter Scale had its epicenter 205 km (127 mi) south-southeast ofBristol Island.[3] On 30 June 2008, an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 struck the region. Its epicentre was at 283 km (176 mi) east-northeast (73 degrees) of Bristol Island.[4][not specific enough to verify]
The northernmost of the South Sandwich Islands form theTraversay Islands andCandlemas Islands groups, while the southernmost make upSouthern Thule. The three largest islands – Saunders,Montagu, andBristol – lie between the two. The islands’ highest point isMount Belinda (1,370 m or 4,495 ft) on Montagu Island. The fourth highest peak,Mount Michael (990 m or 3,248 ft) on Saunders Island has a persistentlava lake, known to occur at only eight volcanoes in the world.[5][6]
The South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited, although an illegal permanently staffed Argentine research station was located on Thule Island from 1976 to 1982 (for details, see§ History above). Automaticweather stations are on Thule Island andZavodovski. To the northwest of Zavodovski Island is theProtector Shoal, a submarine volcano.
Download coordinates as:
The South Sandwich Islands from north to south are:
A series of six passages separates each of the islands or island groups in the chain. They are, from north to south: Zavodovski Isl.,Traverse passage, Visokoi Isl.,Brown's passage, Candlemas Isl.,Shackleton's passage, Saunders Isl.,Larsen's passage, Montagu Isl., Biscoe's passage, Bristol Isl.,Forsters Passage, Southern Thule. Nelson Channel is the passage between Candlemas and Vindication islands.
The area is often cloudy, and a seemingly constant volcanic plume conceals the lake most of the time. Fortunately, the team collected enough shots of the lake from 2003 to 2018 that clearly showed a crater floor containing a superheated lake 295 to 705 feet across. The lava is also 1,812 to 2,334 °F (1,279 °C), with the higher end of that range about as hot as lava on Earth seems to get.
Capital:King Edward Point | |||||||
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| South Sandwich Islands |
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