The Larsen Islands are a small group of islands north-west of Moreton Point, the western extremity of Coronation Island, in the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica. They were discovered by Captains George Powell and Nathaniel Palmer on the occasion of their joint cruise in December 1821. The islands were named on Petter Sørlle's chart, based upon his survey of the South Orkney Islands in 1912–1913, in honour of Carl Anton Larsen. [1]
The islands were recharted in 1933 by Discovery Investigations (DI) personnel on the Discovery II , who used the name Larsen Islands for the group and named the largest island Larsen Island. This scheme was found to be confusing, so Larsen Island was renamed in 1954 by the UK Antarctic Place-names Committee (UK-APC) for the sloop James Monroe, which was commanded by Captain Palmer at the time of discovery and anchored in this vicinity in December 1821. [2]
The largest island of the group, Monroe Island, lies about 10 km from Coronation. [2] Veitch Point is a point situated centrally along the northeast end of the island. Sphinx Rock lies immediately off the southwest end of Monroe Island. Both features were charted and named by DI personnel. [3] [4]
The Larsen Islands, together with neighbouring Moreton Point and an adjacent area of ice-free land to the west, have been identified as a 1580 ha Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports large breeding colonies of seabirds, including some 125,000 pairs of chinstrap penguins and 125,000 pairs of southern fulmars. Snow petrels also nest there in smaller numbers. [5]
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.
Coronation Island is the largest of the South Orkney Islands, 25 nautical miles (46 km) long and from 3 to 8 nautical miles wide. The island extends in a general east–west direction, is mainly ice-covered and comprises numerous bays, glaciers and peaks, the highest rising to 1,265 metres (4,150 ft).
The Inaccessible Islands are a group of small precipitous islands ranging from 120 to 215 m high, the westernmost features of the South Orkney Islands, lying 20 km (12 mi) west of Coronation Island in Antarctica. They were discovered in December 1821 by Captain George Powell, a British sealer in the sloop James Monroe, though it is possible they are the "Seal Islands" seen by Nathaniel Palmer a year earlier. The islands were so named by Powell because of their appearance of inaccessibility. They are considered part of the British Antarctic Territory by the United Kingdom and part of the Province of Tierra del Fuego by Argentina.
The Governor Islands in the South Atlantic are a group of islands and rocks 0.5 nautical miles (1 km) north of Penguin Point, the northwestern extremity of Coronation Island, in the South Orkney Islands. They were discovered by Captain George Powell and Captain Nathaniel Palmer during their joint cruise in December 1821. The name appears on a chart based upon a running survey of the South Orkney Islands in 1912–13 by Petter Sorlle, a Norwegian whaling captain.
Cheal Point is a rocky headland 2 km (1.2 mi) east-south-east of Return Point, the south-western extremity of Coronation Island, in the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica.
Fulmar Bay is a bay 1 nautical mile (2 km) wide between Moreton Point and Return Point at the west end of Coronation Island, in the South Orkney Islands. It was first sighted and roughly charted by Captain George Powell and Captain Nathaniel Palmer on their joint cruise in December 1821. It was surveyed in 1933 by Discovery Investigations personnel, and so named in 1954 by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee because large numbers of Antarctic Fulmars nest in this area.
Grey Island is 1 km (0.62 mi) south of Michelsen Island and 2 km (1.2 mi) west of the southern part of Fredriksen Island, in the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica. It was first charted and named Holmen Graa on a map by the Norwegian whaler Captain Petter Sorlle, who made a running survey of the South Orkney Islands in 1912–13. The anglicised form appears on the chart by Discovery Investigations personnel on the Discovery II who surveyed the islands in 1933.
Gibbon Bay is a bay 2 km (1.2 mi) long and wide, entered between Rayner Point and The Turret along the east coast of Coronation Island, in the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica. The bay was first seen in December 1821 by Captain George Powell and Captain Nathaniel Palmer, but was more accurately delineated on a 1912 chart by Captain Petter Sorlle. It was recharted in 1933 by Discovery Investigations personnel on the Discovery II and named for the ship's surgeon, Dr G.M. Gibbon.
The Gosling Islands are a scattered group of islands and rocks lying close south and west of Meier Point, off the south coast of Coronation Island in the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica. They were first charted and named "Gestlingen" by Petter Sorlle in 1912–13. This was corrected to "Gjeslingene" on a later chart by Sorlle. The approved name is an anglicized form recommended by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee.
Moreton Point is a point 1 nautical mile (2 km) north of Return Point at the western end of Coronation Island, in the South Orkney Islands off Antarctica. It was roughly charted by Captains George Powell and Nathaniel Palmer in 1821, and was named by Discovery Investigations personnel on the Discovery II who charted the islands in 1933.
Michelsen Island is a small island in the South Orkney Islands off Antarctica. It is joined to the southern end of Powell Island by a narrow isthmus of occasionally submerged boulders. The island was first observed and roughly mapped in 1821 by Captains George Powell and Nathaniel Palmer. It was named on a map by Captain Petter Sørlle, a Norwegian whaler who made a running survey of the South Orkney Islands in 1912–13.
Matthews Island is the largest of the Robertson Islands in the South Orkney Islands off Antarctica. It lies immediately south-east of Coronation Island, from which it is separated by a narrow channel known as the Divide. Matthews Island was mapped as part of Coronation Island until January 1957 when a Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS) party established its insularity. It was named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee in 1959 for Drummond H. Matthews, a FIDS geologist at Signy Island in 1956.
Sørlle Rocks is a group of rocks, the highest 20 metres (66 ft) high, lying 7 nautical miles (13 km) west of Moreton Point, the west extremity of Coronation Island in the South Orkney Islands. It was named Tre Sten on Captain Petter Sørlle's chart resulting from his 1912-13 survey. Later renamed for Sørlle by DI personnel on the Discovery II following their survey in 1933.
Spine Island is a narrow island composed of several aligned rock segments, lying in Sandefjord Bay between the west end of Coronation Island and Monroe Island in the South Orkney Islands. It was discovered by Captain George Powell and Captain Nathaniel Palmer on the occasion of their joint cruise in 1821 and is so named because of its appearance by Discovery Investigations personnel on the Discovery II who surveyed the island in 1933.
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.
Return Point is a rocky slope forming the south-west extremity of Coronation Island, in the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica. It lies 2 km west-north-west of Cheal Point.
Lewthwaite Strait is a passage 2.5 nautical miles (5 km) wide, lying between Coronation Island and Powell Island in the South Orkney Islands, Antarctica. It was discovered in December 1821, on the occasion of the joint cruise of Captain George Powell, a British sealer in the sloop Dove, and Captain Nathaniel Palmer, an American sealer in the sloop James Monroe. Mr. Lewthwaite was a teacher of navigation in Prince's Street, Rotherhithe, London; Captain Powell left the chart and journal of his Antarctic exploration with Lewthwaite before sailing on his last expedition, on which he met his death.
Penguin Point is a point which forms the northwestern extremity of Coronation Island in the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica.
Ommanney Bay is a bay 2 mi (3.2 km) wide between Prong Point and Foul Point on the north coast of Coronation Island, in the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica. Like much of Coronation Island and its surrounding features, it was first seen and roughly charted by Captain George Powell and Captain Nathaniel Palmer in 1821. It was recharted in 1933 by Discovery Investigations personnel on the Discovery II and named for Francis D. Ommanney, zoologist on the staff of the Discovery Committee.
Sandefjord Bay is a narrow body of water on the west coast of Coronation Island in the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica. It is 2 mi (3.2 km) long and extends in a northeast-southwest direction between Coronation Island and Monroe Island.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Geological Survey .
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