Courtier Islands

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Courtier Islands
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Courtier Islands
Location in Antarctica
Geography
Location Antarctica
Coordinates 67°52′S68°44′W / 67.867°S 68.733°W / -67.867; -68.733 Coordinates: 67°52′S68°44′W / 67.867°S 68.733°W / -67.867; -68.733
Total islands~24
Administration
Administered under the Antarctic Treaty System
Demographics
PopulationUninhabited

The Courtier Islands are a group of about 24 small islands and rocks in Marguerite Bay, the highest reaching 30 metres (100 ft), lying close southwest of Emperor Island in the Dion Islands. The Dion Islands were first sighted and roughly mapped in 1909 by the French Antarctic Expedition. The Courtier Islands were visited and surveyed in 1949 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey and so named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee because of their association with Emperor Island.

Marguerite Bay or Margaret Bay is an extensive bay on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula, which is bounded on the north by Adelaide Island and on the south by Wordie Ice Shelf, George VI Sound and Alexander Island. The mainland coast on the Antarctic Peninsula is Fallières Coast. Islands within the bay include Pourquoi Pas Island, Horseshoe Island and Lagotellerie Island. Marguerite Bay was discovered in 1909 by the French Antarctic Expedition under Dr. Jean-Baptiste Charcot, who named the bay for his wife.

Emperor Island

Emperor Island is a small island in Marguerite Bay, lying close northeast of the Courtier Islands in the Dion Islands. The islands in this group were discovered and roughly charted in 1909 by the French Antarctic Expedition. This island was surveyed in 1948 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey and so named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee because a low rock and shingle isthmus at the southeast end of the island is the winter breeding site of emperor penguins.

Dion Islands

The Dion Islands are a group of small islands and rocks lying in the northern part of Marguerite Bay, 11 kilometres (6 nmi) 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.

See also

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Haswell Islands island group off the coast of Antarctica

The Haswell Islands are a group of rocky coastal islands lying off Mabus Point, Antarctica, and extending about 3 kilometres (1.5 nmi) seaward. They were charted by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition under Douglas Mawson (1911–14), who applied the name "Rookery Islands" because of a large emperor penguin rookery on Haswell Island, the largest and seaward island in the group. In 1955 the Antarctic Names Committee of Australia proposed that the name Haswell be extended to the entire group.

Bernard Island island in the Géologie Archipelago of Antarctica

Bernard Island is a rocky island 400 m long lying 500 m east of the Petrel Island in the Géologie Archipelago of Antarctica. It was charted in 1951 by a French Antarctic Expedition and named by them for Claude Bernard, a noted French physiologist.

Bon Docteur Nunatak, also known as Good Doctor Nunatak, is a small coastal nunatak, 28 metres (92 ft) high, standing at the west side of the Astrolabe Glacier Tongue, 400 m (1,300 ft) south of Rostand Island in the Geologie Archipelago of Antarctica. It was photographed from the air by U.S. Navy Operation Highjump, 1946–47, charted by the French Antarctic Expedition, 1952–53, and named for Dr Jean Cendron, the "good doctor", medical officer and biologist with the French Antarctic Expedition, 1951–52.

Carrel Island

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Consort Islands

The Consort Islands are two small islands in Marguerite Bay, lying 1 kilometre (0.5 nmi) northeast of Emperor Island in the Dion Islands. The Dion Islands were first sighted and roughly charted in 1909 by the French Antarctic Expedition. The Consort Islands were surveyed in 1948 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey and so named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee because of their association with Emperor Island.

Consul Reef is a line of drying and submerged rocks forming the south end of the Dion Islands, off the south end of Adelaide Island. It was so named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee in 1963; the name extends those in the neighboring islands associated with an emperor's court.

Noble Rocks is a group of about 19 small, low rocks in Marguerite Bay, lying east of Jester Rock in the Dion Islands. The Dion Islands were first sighted and roughly charted in 1909 by the FrAE. Noble Rocks were surveyed in 1949 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS), and so named by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC) because of their association with Emperor Island.

Jester Rock

Jester Rock, also known as Page Rock is a small isolated rock in Marguerite Bay, Antarctica, lying midway between Emperor Island and the Noble Rocks in the Dion Islands. The Dion Islands were first sighted and roughly charted by the French Antarctic Expedition in 1909. Jester Rock was surveyed in 1948 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, and so named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee because of its association with Emperor Island.

Embassy Islands

The Embassy Islands are two small islands, the westernmost of the Dion Islands, lying 13 kilometres (7 nmi) south of Adelaide Island. The Dion Islands were first sighted and roughly charted in 1909 by the French Antarctic Expedition under Jean-Baptiste Charcot. This feature was surveyed in 1949 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey and named "Embassy Rock" by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee because of its detached position in association with Emperor Island. In 1963 the British Royal Navy Hydrographic Survey Unit found there were two islands, not one as previously supposed.

Envoy Rock is a rock marking the northern limit of the Dion Islands, off the south end of Adelaide Island which is within the Argentine, British and Chilean Antarctic claims. It was charted by a Royal Navy Hydrographic Survey Unit from HMS Protector in 1963 and so named in association with Emperor Island and names from an emperor's court.

The Géologie Archipelago, also known as the Geology Archipelago or Cape Geology Archipelago, is a small archipelago of rocky islands and rocks close to the north of Cape Géodésie and Astrolabe Glacier Tongue, extending from Helene Island on the west to the Dumoulin Islands on the east, in Adélie Land, Antarctica.

Haswell Island island off the coast of Antarctica

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Regent Reef is an area of submerged and drying rocks forming the northeast limit of the Dion Islands, off the south end of Adelaide Island. Charted by the Royal Navy Hydrographic Survey Unit in 1963. The name given by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC) extends those in the neighboring islands associated with an emperor's court.

Lamarck Island (Antarctica)

Lamarck Island is a rocky island 250 m (820 ft) long, lying 300 m (980 ft) east of Petrel Island and 300 m (980 ft) north-east of Rostand Island in the Géologie Archipelago, off the Adélie Coast of Antarctica. It was charted in 1951 by the French Antarctic Expedition and named by them after Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, the French naturalist.

Rostand Island is a rocky island 400 m long and 200 m south-east of Petrel Island in the Geologie Archipelago of Antarctica. It was charted in 1951 by the French Antarctic Expedition and named by them for Jean Rostand, noted French biologist.

Amanda Bay Antarctic Specially Protected Area

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References

United States Geological Survey scientific agency of the United States government

The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The USGS is a fact-finding research organization with no regulatory responsibility.

Geographic Names Information System geographical database

The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database that contains name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features located throughout the United States of America and its territories. It is a type of gazetteer. GNIS was developed by the United States Geological Survey in cooperation with the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) to promote the standardization of feature names.