Zavodovski Island

Coordinates: 56°18′S 27°35′W / 56.30°S 27.58°W / -56.30; -27.58[1]
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Not to be confused with Zavadovskiy Island.

Zavodovski Island
Mount Curry
Administration
United Kingdom
Demographics
Populationuninhabited

Zavodovski Island is an uninhabited

lava flows. Mount Curry has a fumarolically active crater on the southwestern side, which also bears traces of a sector collapse
. An eruption occurred in 2016.

The island was officially discovered in December 1819 by

Thaddeus von Bellingshausen. The largest penguin colony on Earth with over a million breeding pairs is situated on Zavodovski. It consists mostly of chinstrap penguins
, although other seabirds and penguin species breed on the island as well. Early explorers noted the bad smell of the island, which is reflected in numerous placenames.

Geography and geomorphology

Zavodovski is the northernmost of the

UK Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. In 2012, a marine protected area was established in the South Sandwich Islands. The scope of the protected area was further expanded in 2019.[6] Icebergs occur in the surrounding waters,[7] and sea ice reaches Zavodovski in August and September.[8]

The island has dimensions of 3.8 by 4.0 kilometres (2.4 mi × 2.5 mi)

parasitic vents.[14]

The small size of the island prevents extensive

columnar joints that are visible in coastal cliffs.[20] On the western side, cliffs show traces of a sector collapse, which extended below sea level[21] and left a 4 cubic kilometres (0.96 cu mi) deposit on the seafloor.[22]

A 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) wide

submarine ridge at less than 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) depth.[26] In 1962, a submarine eruption produced a pumice raft that reached New Zealand.[27] Another, deeper, submarine ridge connects Zavodovski to Leskov Island to the southwest.[28]

Geology

East of the South Sandwich Islands, the

Saunders Island, Montagu Island, Bristol Island-Freezland Rock, Bellingshausen Island, Cook Island-Thule Island emerge from the sea. Most of the islands are stratovolcanoes of various sizes.[26]

Composition

clinopyroxene, olivine and plagioclase.[33] Compositional patterns at Zavodovski and Protector Shoal resemble those of Candlemas Island.[34] Intense weathering gives the rocks yellow and red colours.[20]

Flora and fauna

Mosses grow on Zavodovski, and algae in proximity to penguin colonies.[19] Unlike other islands in the South Sandwich Islands, vegetation is rare even around fumaroles.[35] It consists of bryophytes.[36] Arthropods include mites.[37]

Zavodovski has the largest population of breeding penguins on Earth.

Antarctic fulmars, Antarctic terns, black-bellied storm petrels, blue-eyed shags, cape petrels, kelp gulls, snow petrels, southern giant petrels and Wilson's storm petrels.[39][46] Antarctic fur seal colonies occur along the coasts.[47]

Geologic history

Zavodovski has erupted during the

last glacial maximum, the steep submarine slopes would have restricted their expansion.[49]

The island is one of the most active volcanoes in the South Sandwich Islands.

lava bombs, covering parts of the island and leading the government of South Georgia to issue a navigation warning.[53] Reported inconsistencies of the height of Mount Curry may indicate volcanic activity that changed the summit elevation of the volcano.[15] Undamaged penguin bodies buried by volcanic ash have been found,[54] and activity may have obliterated breeding seabird colonies.[55]

satellite images,[9] and keeps certain parts of the island snow-free.[56] Emissions from Mount Curry alter the properties of clouds in the area, making them brighter.[57]

Research history and naming

Bellingshausen expedition.[59] Other names of the island are Zawadowski, Ssawadowski, Sawadowsky and Prince Island.[60]

The South Sandwich Islands probably are not visited more frequently than a few times per year. Initially, sealers came to the islands, while whalers hunted in the surrounding seas. Scientific expeditions took place in 1930 and 1962.[26] Zavodovski is probably the most frequently visited of the South Sandwich Islands,[33] with cruise ships approaching to view the penguin colonies[61] and tourist boats landing.[62]

The South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited and remote; South Georgia is the closest inhabited place 250 kilometres (160 mi) northwest from Zavodovski.

Soviet landing on Zavodovski.[64]

Smell

Early discoverers remarked on the intense smell of the island,[65] which has been referred to as "the world's smelliest",[66] and numerous placenames on Zavodovski reference the smells and noxious fumes: Acrid Point, Fume Point, Noxious Bluff, Pungent Point, Reek Point and Stench Point.[a] Von Bellingshausen attributed it to penguin droppings, which forced his landing party to leave the island.[5] Noxious fumes also originate from the fumaroles.[19] The same odour may have poisoned Carl Anton Larsen during his 1908 visit[73] and forced him off the island.[74] Later reports noticed it as far as several miles offshore.[19]

Notes

  1. GNIS[67][68][69][70][71][72]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e LeMasurier et al. 1990, p. 368.
  2. ^ a b Barr 2000, p. 318.
  3. ^ Lynch et al. 2016, p. 1615.
  4. ^ a b LeMasurier et al. 1990, p. 361.
  5. ^ a b c Barr 2000, p. 317.
  6. ^ a b Liu et al. 2020, p. 3.
  7. ^ Wild 1923, p. 84.
  8. ^ Thorpe & Murphy 2022, p. 6.
  9. ^ a b c d e Patrick & Smellie 2013, p. 484.
  10. ^ Holdgate & Baker 1979, p. 14.
  11. ^ GVP 2023, General Information.
  12. ^ Liu et al. 2020, p. 6.
  13. ^ Patrick & Smellie 2013, p. 483.
  14. ^ LeMasurier et al. 1990, pp. 368, 369.
  15. ^ a b Holdgate & Baker 1979, p. 16.
  16. ^ Kargel et al. 2014, p. 773.
  17. ^ Convey et al. 2000, p. 1281.
  18. ^ Holdgate & Baker 1979, p. 15.
  19. ^ a b c d e f Holdgate & Baker 1979, p. 17.
  20. ^ a b c Liu et al. 2020, p. 7.
  21. ^ a b c d Leat et al. 2010, p. 114.
  22. ^ Leat et al. 2010, p. 123.
  23. ^ Leat et al. 2010, p. 122.
  24. ^ Leat et al. 2010, p. 121.
  25. ^ Leat et al. 2010, p. 116.
  26. ^ a b c d LeMasurier et al. 1990, p. 362.
  27. ^ Coombs & Landis 1966, p. 289.
  28. ^ LeMasurier et al. 1990, pp. 361, 362.
  29. ^ Holdgate & Baker 1979, p. 3.
  30. ^ Leat et al. 2010, p. 111.
  31. ^ a b LeMasurier et al. 1990, p. 363.
  32. ^ Pearce et al. 1995, p. 1077.
  33. ^ a b c LeMasurier et al. 1990, p. 369.
  34. ^ LeMasurier et al. 1990, pp. 364, 365.
  35. ^ Convey et al. 2000, p. 1287.
  36. ^ Convey et al. 2000, p. 1292.
  37. ^ Convey, Greenslade & Pugh 2000, p. 602.
  38. ^ Liu et al. 2020, p. 8.
  39. ^ a b c Hart & Convey 2018, Table 3.
  40. ^ Convey, Morton & Poncet 1999, p. 114.
  41. ^ a b Hart & Convey 2018, p. 26.
  42. ^ Blackall et al. 2007, p. 4.
  43. ^ a b Lynch et al. 2016, p. 1620.
  44. ^ Lynch et al. 2016, p. 1622.
  45. ^ Convey, Morton & Poncet 1999, p. 113.
  46. ^ Convey, Morton & Poncet 1999, pp. 115–119.
  47. ^ Convey, Morton & Poncet 1999, p. 120.
  48. ^ Leat et al. 2010, p. 117.
  49. ^ Hodgson et al. 2014, p. 145.
  50. ^ LeMasurier et al. 1990, p. 365.
  51. ^ Barr 2000, p. 319.
  52. ^ GVP 2023, Eruption history.
  53. ^ GVP 2023, Latest Activity Reports.
  54. ^ Convey, Morton & Poncet 1999, p. 121.
  55. ^ Convey, Morton & Poncet 1999, p. 123.
  56. ^ a b Holdgate & Baker 1979, pp. 15, 16.
  57. ^ Schmidt et al. 2012, p. 7322.
  58. ^ Hart & Convey 2018, p. 20.
  59. ^ a b Barr 2000, p. 322.
  60. ^ GVP 2023, Synonyms & Subfeatures.
  61. ^ Convey, Morton & Poncet 1999, p. 108.
  62. ^ a b Hart & Convey 2018, p. 21.
  63. ^ Yamin & Anselmi 2020, p. 15.
  64. ^ Bologna 1982, p. 50.
  65. ^ Kemp & Nelson 1931, p. 160.
  66. ^ Estok 2018, p. 4.
  67. ^ GNIS 2023a.
  68. ^ GNIS 2023b.
  69. ^ GNIS 2023c.
  70. ^ GNIS 2023d.
  71. ^ GNIS 2023e.
  72. ^ GNIS 2023f.
  73. ^ Holdgate & Baker 1979, p. 5.
  74. ^ Kemp & Nelson 1931, p. 2.

Sources

Further reading
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