Map of the Balleny Islands |
|
Location of the Balleny Islands |
|
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Antarctica |
| Archipelago | Balleny Islands |
| Area | 400 km2 (150 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 1,705 m (5,594 ft) |
| Highest point | Brown Peak[1][2] |
| Country | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | Uninhabited |
| Additional information | |
| Administered under the Antarctic Treaty System | |
The Balleny Islands () are a series of uninhabited islands in the Southern Ocean extending from 66°15' to 67°35'S and 162°30' to 165°00'E. The group extends for about 160 km (99 mi) in a northwest-southeast direction. The islands are heavily glaciated and are of volcanic origin. Glaciers project from their slopes into the sea. The islands were formed by the so-called Balleny hotspot.
The group includes three main islands: Young, Buckle and Sturge, which lie in a line from northwest to southeast, and several smaller islets and rocks:
Contents |
| Island/Rock | Area (km²/sqmi) | highest peak (m/ft) |
|---|---|---|
| Young Island and satellite islets | ||
| Seal Rocks | 0.0 km2/0 sq mi | (15 m/49 ft) |
| Pillar | 0.0 km2/0 sq mi | (51 m/167 ft) |
| Young Island | 225.4 km2/87.0 sq mi | Freeman Peak (1,340 m/4,400 ft) |
| Row Island | 1.7 km2/0.66 sq mi | (183 m/600 ft) |
| Borradaile Island | 3.5 km2/1.4 sq mi | (381 m/1,250 ft) |
| Beale Pinnacle | 0.0 km2/0 sq mi | (61 m/200 ft) |
| Buckle Island and satellite islets | ||
| Buckle Island | 123.6 km2/47.7 sq mi | (1,238 m/4,062 ft) |
| Scott Cone | 0.0 km2/0 sq mi | (31 m/102 ft) |
| Eliza Cone | 0.0 km2 (0 sq mi) | (67 m/220 ft) |
| Chinstrap Islet | 0.0 km2/0 sq mi | |
| Sabrina Island | 0.2 km2/0.077 sq mi | (90 m/300 ft) |
| The Monolith | 0.1 km2/0.039 sq mi | (79 m/259 ft) |
| Sturge Island (no satellite islets) | ||
| Sturge Island | 437.4 km2/168.9 sq mi | Brown Peak (1,705 m/5,594 ft[1] or 1,524 m/5,000 ft[2]) |
The Antarctic Circle is close to Borradaile Island, in the eight kilometre channel between Young and Buckle Islands. Buckle Island and the nearby Sabrina Islet are home to several colonies of Adelie and Chinstrap penguins.
The English whaling captains John Balleny and Thomas Freeman first sighted the group during 1839: Freeman was the first person to land on any of the islands on February 9, 1839, and it was the first landing south of the Antarctic Circle. The islands' area totals 400 km2 (154 sq mi) and the highest point reaches 1,705 m (5,594 ft) [1] or 1,524 m (5,000 ft)[2] (the unclimbed Brown Peak on Sturge Island).
The islands are part of the Ross Dependency, claimed by New Zealand (see Antarctic territorial claims).
In the archipelago, the Buckle, Sturge and Young Islands are examples of stratovolcanoes.[3] Strong earthquakes very close to the islands are rare, but tremors of moderate strength do occur over the Pacific–Antarctic Ridge, Macquarie Triple Junction and Pacific Rim between the Balleny Islands and Macquarie Island[4]. Other earthquakes occur near the Southeast Indian Ridge and Balleny Fracture Zone, including a magnitude 8.1 earthquake in 1998 that struck just over 700 km (430 mi) west-northwest of the Islands.[5]