Booth Island
.jpg) Icebergs and Booth Island | |
  Booth Island Location in Antarctica | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Antarctica |
| Coordinates | 65°4′48″S 64°0′0″W / 65.08000°S 64.00000°W |
| Archipelago | Wilhelm Archipelago |
| Length | 8 km (5 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 980 m (3220 ft) |
| Highest point | Wandel Peak |
| Administration | |
| Administered under the Antarctic Treaty System | |
Booth Island (or Wandel Island; 65°4′48″S 64°0′0″W / 65.08000°S 64.00000°W) is a Y-shaped island, 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) long and rising to 980 metres (3,220 ft) in the northeast part of the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica.[1]
Location[edit]
Flandres Bay is off the east end of the Graham Coast on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula. It is in the Wilhelm Archipelago, to the northeast of the [[Vedel Islands|| and southwest of the Wauwermans Islands. It is separated from the mainland by the Lemaire Channel, to the southeast. It is east of Cape Renard at the entrance to Flandres Bay.[2]
Sailing directions[edit]
The US Defense Mapping Agency's Sailing Directions for Antarctica (1976) describes Booth Island as follows:
Booth Island (Wandel Island) is the largest of the [Dannebrog Islands], being about 5 miles long and 2 miles wide near the middle, and is situated about 4 miles southwestward of Cape Renard. It is high and rugged, and consists of two rocky masses joined by a low narrow peninsula of ice and snow. The northern of these masses rises to an elevation of 2,083 feet in Mount Lacroix (Mount Lecroix), a rounded summit presenting on all sides vertical walls colored red by iron pyrites. On the northern slope of Mount Lacroix is Clery Peak, a sharp bare rocky cone which forms Turquet Point, the northern extremity of the Island.
The southern part of the Island rises to 3,215 feet in Gourdon Peak (Gourdon Mount, Wandel Peak) from which two spurs extend northward and fall steeply to the sea enclosing a beautiful glacier between them. The western of these spurs contains three prominent peaks, Louise Peak (Mount Louise), 2,050 feet high, Mount Gueguen (Otseguen Peak), 1,221 feet high, and Jeanne Hill (Mount Jeanne), 633 feet high, respectively, and projects northwestward forming a peninsula about 1 mile in length.
On the northern slope of Jeanne Hill is a large penguin rookery, to the north of which is a small peninsula the extremity of which has been named Vanssay Point (Point de Vanssay). Cholet Isle extends northeastward from the extremity of the major peninsula, with a bay lying between it and Vanssay Point. This bay has been named Port Charcot. To westward of Cholet Isle Is Libois Bay, a small protected harbor open to northwestward between Rose Point, the northern entrance point, and Point Paumelle (Paumelle Point), the southern promontory. Under the western Cliffs of the peninsula is Roland Bay, the southern shore of which is the Icy spur of Herviou Point, the western extremity of Booth Island. A BEACON Is located on the shore in the vicinity of Roland Bay. Salpetriere Bay is a wide embayment on the western shore over which stands the steep slopes of Jeanne Hill and the adjoining peaks. A rock, awash, lies in the middle of this bay. From Poste Point, the southern point of Salpetriere Bay, the coast line is steep and trends southward and southeastward for 2 miles to Roullin Point, the southern extremity.[3]
Discovery and name[edit]
Booth Island was discovered and named by a German expedition under Eduard Dallmann in 1873-74, probably for Oskar Booth or Stanley Booth, or both, members of the Hamburg Geographical Society at that time. The United States Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) has rejected the name Wandel Island, applied by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition (BelgAE), 1897-99, in favor of the original naming.[1]
Although many of the island's features were probably first seen by Dallmann's expedition, the island was not charted in detail until the Third French Antarctic Expedition, 1903–1905.[4][5] The majority of the island's features were named by expedition leader Jean-Baptiste Charcot. The names he gave were generally for expedition members, notable French scientists, or friends and family of Charcot.
The sea slug species Curnon granulosa was first described in 1906 from a single specimen found at 40 m depth at Booth Island.[6][7]
Coastal features[edit]
Features, clockwise from the north, include:
Turquet Point[edit]
Turquet Point 65°03'S, 63°57'W Point marking the N extremity of Booth Island in the Wilhelm Archipelago. Probably first seen by the German expedition 1873-74, under Dallmann. The point was charted by the FrAE, 1903-05, under Charcot and named by him for J. Turquet, naturalist of the expedition.[8]
Rouillin Point[edit]
Roullin Point 65°07'S, 64°01'W Point marking the S tip of Booth Island. Probably first seen by the German expedition under Dallmann, 1873-74. Charted by the FrAE, 1903-05 under Charcot, and named by him for Captain Roullin, French Navy.[9]
Poste Point[edit]
Poste Point 65°05'S, 64°01'W Point on the W side of Booth Island which marks the S limit of Salpêtrière Bay. First charted by the FrAE, 1903-05, and named by Charcot for L. Poste, stoker on the ship Francais.[10]
Salpêtrière Bay[edit]
Salpêtrière Bay 65°04'S, 64°02'W Bay 1 mi wide, between Herv6ou Point and Poste Point along the W side of Booth Island. First charted by the FrAE under Dr. Jean B. Charcot, 1903-05, and named by him after the Hopital de la Salpetriere, a Paris hospital where his father, Dr. Jean Martin Charcot, founded a clinic for the treatment of nervous diseases.[11]
Hervéou Point[edit]
Herveou Point 65°04'S, 64°03'W Point forming the W extremity of the rocky peninsula between Port Charcot and Salpetriere Bay, on the W side of Booth Island. First charted by the FrAE, 1903-05, under Charcot, and named by him for F. Hervéou, a seaman on the Franfais.[12]
Paumelle Point[edit]
Paumelle Point 65°04'S, 64°03'W Point marking the S side of the entrance to Libois Bay and the NW end of the peninsula which forms the W extremity of Booth Island. First charted by the FrAE, 1903-05, and named by Charcot for R. Paumelle, steward of the ship Francais.[13]
Libois Bay[edit]
Libois Bay 65°04'S, 64°03'W Cove on the W side of Cholet Island which is entered between Rozo Point, the NW end of Cholet Island, and Paumelle Point, the NW end of Booth Island. First charted by the FrAE, 1903-05, and named by Charcot for F. Libois, second mechanic and carpenter of the ship Francais.[14]
Roland Bay[edit]
Roland Bay 65°04'S, 64°03'W Cove, the S shore of which is Herv6ou Point, indenting the W end of the peninsula that forms the W extremity of Booth Island. First charted by the FrAE, 1903-05, and named by Charcot for F. Roland, a seaman on the ship Francais.[15]
Français Cove[edit]
Francis Cove 65°04'S, 64°02'W Small cove at the W side of Port Charcot, which indents the N end of Booth Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago. Discovered by the FrAE, 1903-05, under Charcot, and named by him after the ship Français, which was moored in the cove during the expedition's winter operations at Port Charcot in 1904.[16]
Port Charcot[edit]
Port Charcot 65°04'S, 64°00'W Bay 1.5 mi wide indenting the N shore of Booth Island. Charted by the FrAE, 1903-05, under Dr. Jean B. Charcot and named by him for his father, Dr. Jean Martin Charcot, famous French neurologist. Charcot established the expedition's winter base at Port Charcot in 1904.[17]
A cairn at Port Charcot, with a wooden pillar and a plaque inscribed with the names of the members of the French expedition, has been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 28), following a proposal by Argentina to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.[18]
Vanssay Point[edit]
Vanssay Point 65°04'S, 64°01'W The extremity of a small peninsula which extends N into the W portion of Port Charcot, Booth Island. Discovered by the FrAE, 1903-05, under Charcot, and named by him for Monsieur De Vanssay de Blavous.[19]
Brouardel Point[edit]
Brouardel Point 65°03'S, 63°59'W Point N of Port Charcot along the W side of the Mount Lacroix peninsula, Booth Island. First charted by the FrAE, 1903-05, and named for Doctor Brouardel, identified by Charcot as a member of the Institut de France.[20]
Inland features[edit]
Mount Lacroix[edit]
Lacroix, Mount 65°03'S, 63°58'W Prominent mountain with red vertical cliffs and a rounded summit, 640 m, surmounting the NE end of Booth Island. First charted by the FrAE, 1903-05, under Charcot and named by him after Alfred Lacroix (1863-1948) French mineralogist and geologist; member of the scientific commission for FrAe, 1903-05 and 1908-10.[21]
Cléry Peak[edit]
Clery Peak 65°03'S, 63°58'W Peak, 640 m, on the N side of Mount Lacroix, a conspicuous massif at the N end of Booth Island. Charted by the FrAE, 1903-05, under Charcot, who named it for his father-in-law L. CleYy, an eminent French lawyer.[22]
Mount Guéguen[edit]
Mount Guéguen 65°04'S, 64°00'W Sharp rocky peak, 365 m, standing 0.25 mi NW of Louise Peak in the N part of Booth Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago. Discovered by the FrAE, 1903-05, under Charcot, who named it for F. Guéguen, stoker on the Francais, and later the Pourquoi Pas?.[12]
Jeanne Hill[edit]
Jeanne Hill 65°04'S, 64°01'W Hill, 195 m, standing 0.25 mi NW of Mount Guéguen and overlooking Port Charcot on Booth Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago. Discovered by the FrAE, 1903-05, under Dr. Jean B. Charcot, and named by him for his sister.[23]
Louise Peak[edit]
Louise Peak 65°05'S, 64°00'W Peak, 625 m, standing 1 mi N of Gourdon Peak on Booth Island. First charted by the FrAE under Charcot, 1903-05, and named by him for the sister of Ernest Gourdon, geologist of the expedition.[24]
Gourdon Peak[edit]
Gourdon Peak 65°05'S, 64°00'W Peak 0.5 mi N of Wandel Peak, one of several high peaks on the N-S trending ridge of Booth Island. First charted by the FrAE, 1903-05, under Charcot, and named by him for Ernest Gourdon, geologist of the expedition.[25]
In 2003, Australian mountaineer Damien Gildea called it "one of the most challenging unclimbed objectives on the Antarctic Peninsula".[26] On 15 February 2006 the peak was reached by a group of Spanish alpinists, who still avoided the last 10–15 metres (32.8–49.2 ft) of the mushroomlike top.[27]
Wandel Peak[edit]
Wandel Peak 65°05'S, 64°00'W Peak, 980 m, standing 0.5 mi S of Gourdon Peak and marking the highest point on Booth Island. In 1898, the BelgAE under Gerlache charted this area and applied the name "Ile Wandel" to this island which Dallmann had named Booth in 1873-74. Although Booth later became established as the name of the island, Gerlache's naming has been preserved in the name for its highest peak. Carl F. Wandel (1843-1930) was a Danish hydrographer who assisted in preparations for the Belgian expedition.[28]
Nearby features[edit]
Cholet Island[edit]
Cholet Island 65°04'S, 64°02'W Small island immediately N of the narrow peninsula which forms the W extremity of Booth Island. Discovered by the FrAE, 1903-05, under Charcot, who named it for Ernest Cholet, skipper of the ship Français, and later, the Pourquoi-Pas?.[29]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Alberts 1995, p. 80.
- ^ Graham Land and South Shetland BAS.
- ^ Sailing Directions 1976, pp. 165–166.
- ^ "Turquet Point". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
- ^ "Roullin Point". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
- ^ MolluscaBase (2019). MolluscaBase. Curnon granulosa (Vayssière, 1906). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1320723 on 2019-09-05
- ^ Wägele, H., Barnes, D. K. A., and Bullough, L. W. (1995) Redescription of Charcotia granulosa Vayssière, 1906 (Nudibranchia: Arminoidea: Charcotiidae) from Signy Island, Antarctica. Journal of Molluscan Studies 61: 197-207.
- ^ Alberts 1995, p. 765.
- ^ Alberts 1995, p. 633.
- ^ Alberts 1995, p. 586.
- ^ Alberts 1995, p. 645.
- ^ a b Alberts 1995.
- ^ Alberts 1995, p. 561.
- ^ Alberts 1995, p. 432.
- ^ Alberts 1995, p. 627.
- ^ Alberts 1995, p. 257.
- ^ Alberts 1995, p. 129.
- ^ "List of Historic Sites and Monuments approved by the ATCM (2012)" (PDF). Antarctic Treaty Secretariat. 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
- ^ Alberts 1995, p. 777.
- ^ Alberts 1995, p. 97.
- ^ Alberts 1995, p. 410.
- ^ Alberts 1995, p. 140.
- ^ Alberts 1995, p. 369.
- ^ Alberts 1995, p. 444.
- ^ Alberts 1995, p. 288.
- ^ Gildea, Damien (2003). Harlin (ed.). "Climbs and Expeditions: Antarctic Peninsula, Summary of Activities". American Alpine Journal. Vol. 77, no. 45. p. 335. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
- ^ Tamayo, José Carlos (2006). Harlin, John III (ed.). "Antarctica, Antarctic Peninsula, Mt. Shackleton, South Face-West Ridge; Wandel Peak, North Ridge to Summit Mushroom". American Alpine Journal. Vol. 48, no. 80. Seattle: Mountaineers Books. p. 294. ISBN 1-933056-01-0. Archived from the original on 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
- ^ Alberts 1995, p. 795.
- ^ Alberts 1995, p. 134.
Sources[edit]
- Alberts, Fred G., ed. (1995), Geographic Names of the Antarctic (PDF) (2 ed.), United States Board on Geographic Names, retrieved 3 December 2023
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Board on Geographic Names. - Graham Land and South Shetland Islands, BAS: British Antarctic Survey, 2005, retrieved 3 May 2024
- Sailing Directions for Antarctica: Includes Islands South of Latitude 60.̊, United States. Defense Mapping Agency. Hydrographic Center, 1976, retrieved 30 May 2024 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
