In the southernmost point of the Atlantic Ocean , amazing land areas of volcanic origin are located: South Georgia and the Sandwich archipelago. What do we know about them? Where did these names come from, who is the discoverer and how are they remarkable? Let's take a closer look at this piece of the Atlantic.
South Georgia: description and climate
South Georgia, or Georgia, is an island that resembles a paradise for penguins and seals, as well as the archipelago of the same name, which has 9 islands and 4 cliffs. It is here that the largest colonies of these animals are located. The area of the island is more than 3500 km 2 , and most of it is covered with tundra mosses and lichens. Severe climatic conditions do not allow to boast of beautiful natural landscapes.
Ocean meadows covered with fine grass are common here, and tundra, trees, and shrubs are absent. Part of the island at an altitude of more than 300 meters above sea level is covered with glaciers and eternal ice. This land itself is not very friendly for people. Rocks, an icy wind and constant cloudy weather with snow or shallow drizzle do not seduce anyone, and even more so they do not have life on such an island. Therefore, only about 30 people live on it. The ocean does not freeze around, only closed bays for a while are in the grip of ice.
Sandwich Islands South: Description
What is this geographical feature? If you pay attention to the Atlantic Ocean on a world map, then this archipelago is located in its southernmost part, at a distance of 570 km from Georgia. By area, it is the smallest archipelago in the ocean (total 310 km 2 ), consisting of 13 small sections of land. Volcanic islands scattered by an arc are uninhabited rocks. However, not completely uninhabited. This corner of the globe is inhabited by representatives of fauna adapted to harsh subarctic conditions. As for people, the Sandwich Islands are of interest to a large extent only for biologists. The fact is that the largest number of albatrosses in the world lives here. Also, these rocky shores were chosen by seals, king penguins and other inhabitants of the subarctic climate.
The largest
island of the archipelago - Montagu - is famous for its active volcanoes. The last time the eruption occurred in 2008. By assumption, the Sandwich Islands are a continuation of the Andes located in South America. These lands are visited only by arctic expeditions. Due to the proximity of cold currents, the subantarctic archipelago is icebound from May to early December.
Discovery story
According to assumptions, the island of South Georgia was discovered in 1675 by a merchant named Anthony de la Rocher. He sailed from Chile to Brazil and on the way got into a strong storm, which threw him far to the east. The team was able to take refuge in the bay of an unknown island, thus becoming discoverers. The land plot was named after Roche. Only 100 years later, in 1775, during his second journey, the famous James Cook came across this piece of land. He described the island and plotted it on a map. Further, following British law, the navigator declared it British territory and gave it a name in honor of King George.
At the same time, James Cook explored the Sandwich Islands, discovering several small islands and calling them Sandwich Land, but a more detailed description of them appeared in 1819. Then the Lazarev-Bellingshausen expedition discovered 6 more small land areas. So the Atlantic Ocean on the world map replenished with another archipelago. Changes in his status took place at the beginning of the 20th century. Sandwich Islands began to belong to Great Britain since 1908.
After opening
So, new lands appeared in the asset, and what to do with them is unknown. Due to the harsh climate, life on the newly discovered islands is almost impossible. The proximity of the Antarctic dictates its weather conditions: the temperature there in the summer does not rise above 5 degrees, and in winter does not drop below 2 degrees of frost. And all would be fine, but constant cold winds and cloudy weather reduce the perceptible degrees to -10. There is nowhere to hide on the islands, so people sailed here only for hunting seals and fur seals.
But a lot has changed when the whale trapping began. Whaling flotillas in search of prey swam to the very south of the Atlantic, and starting in 1904, settlements began to appear on the island of South Georgia. The founder of the first village of Grytviken became a Norwegian with British citizenship Karl Larsen.
Beginning of whaling
Since 1904, seven fishing factories have appeared on the island of George. Despite the harsh climate, whalers flourished, and about 1,000 people lived here permanently. The governing body of the Argentine fishing company is located in Grytviken. All of them were located in sheltered bays on the north coast of the island.
Worked in this company mainly Norwegians. The leasing agreements were issued by the English governor to whalers. Despite the fact that England formed a management center, King Edward Point, near the Grytviken whaling base in 1909, the archipelagos were governed by the Governor of the Falkland Islands.
War of Territory
Argentina never recognized Britain’s right to own South Georgia with the South Sandwich Islands. She made her claims, starting in 1938. For some time in the mid-50s, Argentina had a summer base Tenniente-Esquivel in Ferguson Bay on the island of Tula, located in the southern part of the Sandwich Islands. And starting in 1976 and until 1982, the Corbet Uruguay naval base was located there. The British were well aware of the presence of Argentina in their overseas territory, but did not take military methods to eliminate it.
Everything happened on March 19, 1982. Then a group of Argentines, posing as scrap merchants, occupied an abandoned whaling base in Leith Harbor Bay in South Georgia. And on April 3, they stormed and captured Grytviken.
The British Marines regained the island on April 25, 1982. In the course of hostilities 13 thousand British military and 20 thousand Argentines were involved. The defeat in this war led to a change of government in Argentina, and in Britain the victory contributed to the growth of patriotism. One writer spoke of this war as follows: "A quarrel between two bald men over a comb." And it was a really pointless war in which people died. Until 2001, a small military garrison was located at King Edward Point. At this time, the base has returned to the disposal of the British Antarctic Service.
Islands today
Today, these volcanic islands are of interest to a large extent for scientific expeditions. In summer, they conduct meteorological studies and observe colonies of unique birds. On the island of South Georgia, the only songbird in Antarctica is a large horse. There are also many albatrosses, petrels, cormorants, gulls and terns, you can admire the beautiful penguins and the huge rookeries of walruses and seals.
Due to the volcanic activity on the Sandwich Islands, which has been observed since their discovery, the life of people on their territory is almost impossible. But here Antarctic expeditions are periodically placed. For some time England planned to develop a tourism business on the islands, but these are very expensive trips.
sights
Today, on the island of South Georgia, in the village of Grytviken, there is a museum where you can get acquainted in detail with the history of the archipelago. Some time ago, they began to restore the destroyed whaling bases as local attractions. Ernest Sheckelton, a well-known polar explorer, and his assistant Frank Ould are also buried on the island. But still, the main attraction of these distant archipelagos are colonies of penguins and marine mammals. And near the Sandwich Islands you can watch the magnificent giants - whales. Here they are - the most extreme islands of the Atlantic Ocean.