Penguin Island (South Shetland Islands)

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Penguin Island
Location of Penguin Island
Elevation:	180 m (591 feet)
Coordinates:	62.10° S 57.93° W
Location:	Antarctica
Type:	Stratovolcano
Last eruption:	1905(?)
First ascent:
Easiest route:

Penguin Island (also known as Georges Island, Île Pingouin, Isla Pingüino, and Penguin Isle) is an island, 1.4 wide by 1.7 km long, which lies close off the south coast of King George Island and marks the eastern side of the entrance to King George Bay in the South Shetland Islands. Penguin Island was sighted in January 1820 by a British expedition under Edward Bransfield, and so named by him because penguins occupied the shores of the island.

Penguin Island is capped by Deacon Peak, a basaltic scoria cone. Deacon Peak was last thought to be active about 300 years ago. Petrel Crater, a maar crater, is located on the east side of the island, and is though to have last erupted in or around 1905.

[edit] Sources

• Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program: Penguin Island
• LeMasurier, W. E.; Thomson, J. W. (eds.) (1990). Volcanoes of the Antarctic Plate and Southern Oceans. American Geophysical Union, 512 pp. ISBN 0-87590-172-7. 

[edit] See also

• List of antarctic and sub-antarctic islands

[edit] External links

• information on the South Shetland Islands including Penguin Island

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