Scott Island
67°22.7′S 179°54.7′W / 67.3783°S 179.9117°W
Scott Island is a small uninhabited island of volcanic origin in the Ross Sea, Southern Ocean, 505 kilometres (310 mi) northeast of Cape Adare, the northeastern extremity of Victoria Land. It is 565 metres (618 yd) long north-south, and between 130 metres (140 yd) and 340 metres (370 yd) wide, reaching a height of 54 metres (177 ft) and covering an area of 4 hectares (10 acres). Haggits Pillar, a stack reaching 62 metres (203 ft) in height and measuring 50 metres (55 yd) in diameter, yielding an area of less than 0.2 hectares (0.5 acres), is located 250 metres (270 yd) west of the island. The island has two small coves with beaches, the rest of the island being surrounded by high cliffs. One of the coves is on the northeastern coast and the other opposite Haggitts Pillar on the western coast of the island.
The island was discovered on Christmas Day 1902 and landed upon by Captain William Colbeck, commander of the Morning, the relief ship for Captain Robert F. Scott's expedition. Colbeck originally planned to name the island Markham Island, after Sir Clements Markham but later decided to name it after Captain Scott. Haggits Pillar is named after William Colbeck's mother's family name, Haggit. In 2006, a mapping expedition to the Ross Sea found the island 2.3 km north of its previously determined position.[1]
There is an automatic weather station on the island, currently at an elevation of 30 meters. Weather records date back to 1988, with interruptions. [2] The records show an average temperature of a few degrees °C below zero in summer, and down to -40 °C in winter.
Scott Island is part of the Ross Dependency, claimed by New Zealand (see claims on Antarctica).
References
- ^ The changing map of Antarctica, National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research, Coasts & Oceans Update, No. 17, 2007
- ^ http://uwamrc.ssec.wisc.edu/aws/scottismain.html
- Birds observed at Scott Island, Ross Sea, Antarctica
- Gerhard Wörner and Giovanni Orsi (1990). Volcanic observations on Scott Island in the Antarctic Ocean, Polarforschung, 60 (2), 82–83.
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