Bouvet Island
Bouvet Island Bouvetøya ( Harald V | |
---|---|
• Administered by | Ministry of Justice and Public Security |
Area | |
• Total | 49 km2 (19 sq mi) |
93% | |
Highest elevation | 780 m (2,560 ft) |
Population | |
• Estimate | 0 |
ISO 3166 code | BV |
Internet TLD | |
Bouvet Island (
The island lies 1,700 km (1,100 mi) north of the Princess Astrid Coast of Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, 1,900 km (1,200 mi) east of the South Sandwich Islands, 1,845 km (1,146 mi) south of Gough Island, and 2,600 km (1,600 mi) south-southwest of the coast of South Africa. It has an area of 49 km2 (19 sq mi), 93 percent of which is covered by a glacier. The centre of the island is the ice-filled crater of an inactive volcano. Some skerries and one smaller island, Larsøya, lie along its coast. Nyrøysa, created by a rock slide in the late 1950s, is the only easy place to land and is the location of a weather station.
The island was first spotted on 1 January 1739 by the Frenchman
In 1927, the first Norvegia expedition landed on the island, and claimed it for Norway. At that point, the island was given its current name of Bouvet Island ("Bouvetøya" in Norwegian).[6] In 1930, following resolution of a dispute with the United Kingdom over claiming rights, it was declared a Norwegian dependency. In 1971, it was designated a nature reserve.
History
Discovery and early sightings
The island was discovered on 1 January 1739 by
The next expedition to spot the island was in 1808 by James Lindsay, captain of the Samuel Enderby & Sons' (SE&S) snow whaler Swan.[10] Swan and another Enderby whaler, Otter were in company when they reached the island and recorded its position, though they were unable to land.[11][12]: 434–435 Lindsay could confirm that the "cape" was indeed an island.[7]: 62 The next expedition to arrive at the island was American Benjamin Morrell and his seal hunting ship Wasp. Morrell, by his own account, found the island without difficulty (with "improbable ease", in the words of historian William Mills)[12]: 434–435 before landing and hunting 196 seals.[7]: 62 In his subsequent lengthy description, Morrell does not mention the island's most obvious physical feature: Its permanent ice cover.[8]: 106–107 This has caused some commentators to doubt whether he actually visited the island.[12]: 434–435 [13]
On 10 December 1825, SE&S's George Norris, master of the Sprightly, landed on the island,
Norris also spotted a second island in 1825, which he named Thompson Island, which he placed 72 km (45 mi) north-northeast of Liverpool Island. Thompson Island was also reported in 1893 by Fuller, but in 1898 Chun did not report seeing such an island, nor has anyone since.[14] However, Thompson Island continued to appear on maps as late as 1943.[16] A 1967 paper suggested that the island might have disappeared in an undetected volcanic eruption, but in 1997 it was discovered that the ocean is more than 2,400 m (7,900 ft) deep in the area.[17]
Norwegian annexation
In 1927, the First Norvegia Expedition, led by Harald Horntvedt and financed by
The claim was initially protested by the United Kingdom, on the basis of Norris's landing and annexation. However, the British position was weakened by Norris's sighting of two islands and the uncertainty as to whether he had been on Thompson or Liverpool (i.e. Bouvet) Island. Norris's positioning deviating from the correct location combined with the island's small size and lack of a
The
Recent history
In 1955, the South African frigate SAS Transvaal visited the island.[20] Nyrøysa, a rock-strewn ice-free area, the largest such on Bouvet, was created sometime between 1955 and 1958, probably by a landslide.[21]
In 1964, the island was visited by the British naval ship
On 17 December 1971, the entire island and its territorial waters were protected as a nature reserve.[2] A scientific landing was made in 1978, during which the underground temperature was measured to be 25 °C (77 °F).[23] In addition to scientific surveys,[14] the lifeboat found by the Protector team was recovered from Nyrøysa, although no other signs of people were found.[23] The lifeboat was believed to belong to a Soviet scientific reconnaissance vessel.[b]
The Vela incident took place on 22 September 1979, on or above the sea between Bouvetøya and Prince Edward Islands, when the American Vela Hotel satellite 6911 registered an unexplained double flash. This observation has been variously interpreted as a meteor, or an instrumentation glitch, but most independent assessments conclude it was an undeclared joint nuclear test carried out by South Africa and Israel.[23][25][26][27]
In the mid-1980s, Bouvetøya, Jan Mayen, and Svalbard were considered as locations for the new Norwegian International Ship Register, but the flag of convenience registry was ultimately established in Bergen, Norway, in 1987.[18]: 189 In 2007, the island was added to Norway's tentative list of nominations as a World Heritage Site as part of the transnational nomination of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.[28]
The expedition ship Hanse Explorer visited Bouvet Island on 20 and 21 February 2012 as part of "Expédition pour le Futur".[33] The expedition's goal was to land and climb the highest point on the island.[c]
Bouvet Island is assigned the amateur radio callsign prefix 3Y0,[34] and several amateur radio DX-peditions have been conducted to the island.[35][36][37][38] The 3Y0J DX-pedition to Bouvet Island took place between January and February 2023, but had to be reduced in scope and eventually cut short due to bad and worsening weather conditions.[39][40]
Norvegia Station
Norvegia Station | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 54°24′25″S 3°17′16″E / 54.407052°S 3.287791°E | |
Country | Norway |
Operator | Norwegian Polar Institute |
Established | 1927 |
Population | |
• Summer | 6 |
• Winter | 0 |
UN/LOCODE | NO |
Active times | Every summer |
Status | Operational |
Activities | Meteorology |
Facilities | Dorms and labs |
Website | npolar.no |
Since the 1970s, the island has been visited frequently by Norwegian Antarctic expeditions. In 1977 a temporary five-man station and an
In March 1985, a Norwegian expedition experienced sufficiently clear weather to allow the entire island to be photographed from the air, resulting in the first accurate map of the whole island, 247 years after its discovery.[7]: 59
The Norwegian Polar Institute established a 36 m2 (390 sq ft) research station, made of shipping containers, at Nyrøysa in 1996. On 23 February 2006, the island experienced a magnitude 6.2 earthquake whose epicentre was about 100 km (62 mi) away,[41] weakening the station's foundation and causing it to be blown to sea during a winter storm.[42][43]
In December 2012, a new research station was sent by ship from Tromsø in Norway, via Cape Town, to Bouvet.[44]
The robust and technically advanced station was assembled in Nyrøysa, on the north-western part of the island, the only place wide enough to land by helicopter. The elevated station is formed by three modules placed on a steel platform fixed into a concrete base. It can accommodate six people for periods of 2–4 months, and it is designed and equipped to resist rough weather conditions. The energy is supplied by wind power, which makes it easier to operate the equipment during the long periods when the station is uninhabited. The base is equipped with an automatic meteorological station that sends data via satellite throughout the year.[45]
Geography and geology
Bouvetøya is a volcanic island constituting the top of a shield volcano just off the Southwest Indian Ridge in the South Atlantic Ocean.[46] The island measures 9.5 by 7 km (5.9 by 4.3 mi) and covers an area of 49 km2 (19 sq mi),[19] including a number of small rocks and skerries and one sizable island, Larsøya.[47]
It is located in the Subantarctic, south of the Antarctic Convergence,[48] which, by some definitions, would place the island in the Southern Ocean.[49]
Bouvet Island is one of the
Nyrøysa is a 2 by 0.5 km (1.2 by 0.3 mi) terrace located on the north-west coast of the island. Created by a
After rounding Kapp Fie, the coast along the south side is known as Vogtkysten.[58] The westernmost part of it is the 300 m (980 ft) long shore of Sjøelefantstranda.[59]
Off Catoodden, on the south-western corner, lies Larsøya, the only island of any size off Bouvetøya.[47] The western coast from Catoodden north to Nyrøysa, is known as Esmarchkysten. Midway up the coast lies Norvegiaodden (Kapp Norvegia)[60] and 0.5 km (0.31 mi) off it the skerries of Bennskjæra.[61]
Ninety-three percent of the island is covered by
The island's total coastline is 29.6 km (18.4 mi).
Climate
The island is located south of the
Climate data for Bouvet Island | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 10.2 (50.4) |
10.2 (50.4) |
10.6 (51.1) |
7.7 (45.9) |
5.6 (42.1) |
5.2 (41.4) |
3.8 (38.8) |
5.9 (42.6) |
7.3 (45.1) |
8.7 (47.7) |
8.3 (46.9) |
10.6 (51.1) |
10.6 (51.1) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 3.7 (38.7) |
4.0 (39.2) |
3.3 (37.9) |
2.5 (36.5) |
1.0 (33.8) |
−0.4 (31.3) |
−1.2 (29.8) |
−1.1 (30.0) |
−0.8 (30.6) |
0.5 (32.9) |
1.8 (35.2) |
3.0 (37.4) |
1.4 (34.4) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 1.7 (35.1) |
2.0 (35.6) |
1.5 (34.7) |
0.9 (33.6) |
−0.8 (30.6) |
−2.2 (28.0) |
−3.3 (26.1) |
−3.6 (25.5) |
−3.3 (26.1) |
−1.8 (28.8) |
−0.3 (31.5) |
0.9 (33.6) |
−0.7 (30.8) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −0.3 (31.5) |
−0.1 (31.8) |
−0.4 (31.3) |
−0.8 (30.6) |
−2.5 (27.5) |
−3.9 (25.0) |
−5.3 (22.5) |
−6.0 (21.2) |
−5.8 (21.6) |
−4.1 (24.6) |
−2.5 (27.5) |
−1.2 (29.8) |
−2.7 (27.1) |
Record low °C (°F) | −2.6 (27.3) |
−2.2 (28.0) |
−3.2 (26.2) |
−4.7 (23.5) |
−9.7 (14.5) |
−10.2 (13.6) |
−14.8 (5.4) |
−15 (5) |
−18.7 (−1.7) |
−15.2 (4.6) |
−8.4 (16.9) |
−4.1 (24.6) |
−18.7 (−1.7) |
Source 1: Météo climat stats (Norvege)[68] | |||||||||||||
Source 2: Météo Climat stats (Isl. Bouvet)[69] |
Nature
The harsh climate and ice-bound terrain limits non-animal life to
The island has been designated as an
The only non-bird
Politics and government
Bouvetøya is one of three dependencies of Norway.
The annexation of the island is regulated by the Dependency Act of 24 March 1933. It establishes that Norwegian criminal law, private law and procedural law apply to the island, in addition to other laws that explicitly state they are valid on the island. It further establishes that all land belongs to the state, and prohibits the storage and detonation of nuclear products.[1]
Bouvet Island has been designated with the ISO 3166-2 code BV[75] and was subsequently awarded the country code top-level domain .bv on 21 August 1997.[76] The domain is managed by Norid but is not in use.[77]
The
A king penguin in Edinburgh Zoo, Major General Sir Nils Olav III, carries the title Baron of the Bouvet Islands.[80]
In fiction
- The island figures prominently in the book A Grue of Ice (1962), an adventure novel by Geoffrey Jenkins, based on Tristan da Cunha, Bouvet, and the mythical Thompson Island.[81]
- Bouvet is the setting of the 2004 film Alien vs. Predator, which uses its Norwegian name "Bouvetøya".[82]
See also
- Bolle Bay
- List of islands of Norway
- List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands
- Morrell Reef
- Norris Reef
- Norvegia Rock
- Røver Anchorage
- Spiess Rocks
Explanatory notes
- ^ The internet domain suffix .bv is allocated to Bouvetøya, but has never been used.
- ^ The scientific reconnaissance vessel 'Slava-9' began its regular 13th cruise with the 'Slava' Antarctic whaling fleet on 22 October 1958 ... On 27 November she got to Bouvet Island. A group of sailors landed, but were unable to leave the island in time because of worsened weather and stayed on it for about 3 days. The people were withdrawn by helicopter on 29 November 1958.[24]
- ^ The first four climbers (Aaron Halstead, Will Allen, Bruno Rodi and Jason Rodi) were the first humans to climb the highest peak. A time capsule containing the top visions of the future for 2062 was left behind. The next morning, Aaron Halstead led five other climbers (Sarto Blouin, Seth Sherman, Chakib Bouayed, Cindy Sampson, and Akos Hivekovics) to the top.[33]
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- ^ "Bouvetøya". stadnamn.npolar.no. Place names in Norwegian polar areas. Norwegian Polar Institute.
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{{cite web}}
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External links
- The Most Remote Island in the World – Sometimes Interesting, 11 November 2012
- Amateur Radio DX Pedition to Bouvet Island 3Y0Z
- Bouvet Island, the most remote island in the World – Random-Times.com, June 2018'