South Georgia Island
 Central South Georgia | |
 Map of South Georgia Island | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | South Atlantic |
| Coordinates | 54°24′S 36°42′W / 54.4°S 36.7°W / -54.4; -36.7 |
| Archipelago | South Georgia group |
| Length | 167.4 km (104.02 mi) |
| Width | 37 km (23 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 2,934 m (9,626 ft) |
| Highest point | Mount Paget |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 32 (summer) 16 (winter) |
South Georgia is an island in the southern Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The main settlement is Grytviken. South Georgia is 167.4 kilometres (104 mi) long and 1.4 to 37 km (0.9 to 23.0 miles) wide.[1] It is about 830 km (520 mi) northeast of Coronation Island and 550 km (340 mi) northwest from Zavodovski Island, the nearest South Sandwich island.
Contents
1 History
1.1 Argentine occupation
2 Geography and fauna
3 References
History
The Island of South Georgia is said to have been first sighted in 1675 by Anthony de la Roché, a London merchant, and was named Roche Island on a number of early maps. It was sighted by a commercial Spanish ship named León operating out of Saint-Malo on 28 June or 29 June 1756.[2]
Commercial sealing was conducted on the island between 1786 and 1913. During that period 131 sealing visits are recorded, eight of which ended when the vessel was wrecked.[3] Modern industrial sealing associated with whaling stations was carried out between 1909 and 1964. Sealing era relics include iron trypots, hut ruins, graves and inscriptions.
Argentine occupation
On 19 March 1982, a group of Argentinians arrived at Leith Harbour and raised the Argentine flag on the island. On 3 April, the second day of the Falklands War, Argentine naval forces formally annexed the island. South Georgia was retaken by British forces on 25 April during Operation Paraquet.
Geography and fauna
Topography of South Georgia Island
Church at Grytviken
The island is classified as an ET or polar tundra climate on the Köppen-Geiger classification system. It has no tree cover, and there is generally snow on the island during the winter months (April–November). The terrain is mountainous, with a central ridge and many fjords and bays along the coast. Additionally, South Georgia is a breeding ground for elephant seals,[4]fur seals,[5][6] and king penguins. The island is home to the South Georgia Pintail and the South Georgia Pipit, the only known habitat for these birds.[7]
The island's topography include a stepped sequence of flat surfaces interpreted as wave-cut platforms formed when sea level was higher relative to the island. At sea level strandflats have been described.[8]
In 2018, the island was declared free of invasive rodents after a multiyear extermination effort.[9][10]
References
^ "Google Maps". Google Maps. Retrieved 2017-07-18..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ "Historia General de las Relaciones Exteriores de la República Argentina: Georgias del Sur" [General History of Foreign Relations of the Argentine Republic: South Georgia Islands]. www.argentina-rree.com (in Spanish). Instituto Iberoamérica y el Mundo. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
^ R.K. Headland, (ed.) Historical Antarctic sealing industry, Scott Polar Research Institute (Cambridge University), 2018, p.168,
ISBN 978-0-901021-26-7.
^ Boyd, I. L., Walker, T. R., & Poncet, J. (1996). Status of southern elephant seals at South Georgia. Antarctic Science, 8(3), 237–244. doi:10.1017/S0954102096000338
^ Boyd, I. L., McCafferty, D. J., & Walker, T. R. (1997). Variation in foraging effort by lactating Antarctic fur seals: response to simulated increased foraging costs. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 40(3), 135–144. doi:10.1007/s002650050326
^ Boyd, I. L., McCafferty, D. J., Reid, K., Taylor, R., & Walker, T. R. (1998). Dispersal of male and female Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 55(4), 845–852. doi:10.1139/f97-314
^ Amos, Jonathan (2018-05-09). "Rodents driven from South Georgia". BBC News. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
^ Chalmers, M.; Clapperton, M.A. (1970). Geomorhpology of the Stromness Bay – Cumberland Bay area, South Georgia (PDF) (Report). British Antarctic Survey Scientific Reports. 70. pp. 1–25. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
^ Warren, Matt (2018-05-08). "Rat begone: Record eradication effort rids sub-Antarctic island of invasive rodents". Science. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
^ "The Intrepid Rat-Sniffing Terriers of South Georgia Island". atlasobscura.com. 17 May 2018.
