Sturge Island

Sturge Island (67°25′S 164°44′E) is one of the three main islands in the uninhabited Balleny Islands group located in the Southern Ocean. It lies 25 kilometres (16 mi) southeast of Buckle Island and 95 kilometres (59 mi) northeast of Belousov Point on the Antarctic mainland. The islands were discovered by British mariner John Balleny in 1839. The island was named after Thomas Sturge, one of the London merchants who had financed the expedition led by Balleny.

Sturge Island
Sturge Island is the southernmost of the Balleny Islands
Sturge Island
Location in Antarctica
Geography
LocationAntarctica
Coordinates67°25′S 164°44′E
ArchipelagoBalleny Islands
Area437.2 km2 (168.8 sq mi)
Length37 km (23 mi)
Width9 km (5.6 mi)
Highest elevation1,705 m (5,594 ft)
Highest pointBrown Peak[1][2]
Administration
Administered under the Antarctic Treaty System
Demographics
Population0

The island is roughly a parallelogram in shape, with long east and west coasts and shorter coasts facing northwest and southeast. It is approximately 5 nautical miles (5.8 mi) in width, and its maximum length is 20 nautical miles (23 mi),[3] between Cape Freeman in the north and Cape Smyth in the south. It is covered by ice and snow all the year around.

The island's highest point reaches 1,705 m (5,594 ft)[1] or 1,524 m (5,000 ft)[2] (the unclimbed Brown Peak). This is the highest point in the Balleny chain.

The island forms part of the Ross Dependency, claimed by New Zealand (see claims on Antarctica).

See also
  • Composite Antarctic Gazetteer
  • List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands
  • Thomas Sturge

References
  • W.E. LeMasurier; J.W. Thomson, eds. (1990). Volcanoes of the Antarctic Plate and Southern Oceans. American Geophysical Union. pp. 512 pp. ISBN 0-87590-172-7.
  1. Brown Peak, Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica, Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. US source.
  2. Brown Peak, Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica, Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. NZ source.
  3. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Sturge Island

Media related to Balleny Islands at Wikimedia Commons


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