Vega Island
  Vega Island Location in Antarctica | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Antarctica |
| Coordinates | 63°50′S 57°25′W / 63.833°S 57.417°W |
| Archipelago | James Ross Island group |
| Administration | |
None | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | Uninhabited |
Vega Island is a small island to the northwest of James Ross Island, on the Antarctic Peninsula. It is separated from James Ross Island by Herbert Sound. The island was named by Otto Nordenskjold, leader of the Swedish Antarctic Expedition (1901-04) in honor of the ship making the first voyage through the Northeast Passage, 1878-79.
Vega Island is an important site for paleontology. The region is extremely rich in terrestrial and marine fossils which span the boundary of the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods, covering the point in time when dinosaurs became extinct. Fossils found on the island include hadrosaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs.
See also
- Composite Antarctic Gazetteer
- List of Antarctic islands south of 60° S
- SCAR
- Territorial claims in Antarctica
References
- "Vega Island". Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR).
- "New Dinosaur Finds in Antarctica Paint Fuller Picture of Past Ecosystem". National Science Foundation. February 6, 1998.
External links
- Antarctic Researchers to Discuss Difficult Recovery of Unique Juvenile Plesiosaur Fossil, from the National Science Foundation, December 6, 2006.
- Rocas hipabisales del grupo volcánico James Ross, Isla Vega (Spanish)