Saunders Island, South Sandwich Islands

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Coordinates: 57°47′S, 026°27′W

Saunders Island is a crescent-shaped island 8.8 km (5.5 mi) long, lying between Candlemas Island and Montagu Island in the South Sandwich Islands. It is a volcanic island composed of an active stratovolcano, 990 metres (3,248 ft) Mount Michael. It erupted explosively in 1819, and has erupted repeatedly since 2000, most recently in 2005. The 700 m (2,300 ft) diameter summit crater may contain an active lava lake, one of only a handful in the world.

Saunders Island was discovered in 1775 by Captain James Cook, who named it for Sir Charles Saunders, First Lord of the Admiralty. It was charted in greater detail by Bellingshausen in 1819, and in 1930 by DI personnel on the Discovery II. ^{[clarification needed]}

[edit] References

• Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program: Mount Michael
• 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. 
• Volcano World: Mount Michael

South Sandwich Islands

Location of Saunders Island

v • d • e South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Georgia Islands Annenkov Island · Bird Island · Clerke Rocks · Cooper Island · Grass Island · Kupriyanov Islands · Pickersgill Islands · Saddle Island · Shag Rocks · South Georgia · Welcome Islands · Willis Islands South Sandwich Islands Bellingshausen · Bristol · Candlemas · Cook · Leskov · Montagu · Saunders · Thule · Vindication · Visokoi · Zavodovski · Traversay Islands