Charcot Island

Charcot Island

Greyscale image of the Charcot Island area. Dark grey indicates relatively warm temperatures and white indicates relatively cold temperatures.
Charcot Island, shown on the central left
Geography
Location	Antarctica
Coordinates	69°45′S 75°15′W / 69.75°S 75.25°W / -69.75; -75.25
Length	30 mi (50 km)
Width	25 mi (40 km)
Country
Antarctica
Additional information
Administered under the Antarctic Treaty System

Charcot Island or Charcot Land is an island of the British Antarctic Territory, 30 miles (48 km) long and 25 miles (40 km) wide, which is ice covered except for prominent mountains overlooking the north coast, 55 miles (89 km) west of Alexander Island.

History

Charcot Island was discovered on January 11, 1910, by the French Antarctic Expedition under Jean-Baptiste Charcot, who, at the insistence of his crew and the recommendation of Edwin S. Balch and others, named it Charcot Land. He did so with the stated intention of honoring his father, Jean-Martin Charcot, a famous French physician.[1] The insularity of Charcot Land was proved by Sir Hubert Wilkins, who flew around it on December 29, 1929.

2009 Collapse of ice bridge

The ice bridge holding the Wilkins Ice Shelf to the Antarctic coastline and Charcot Island was 25 miles (40 km) long but only 500 metres (1,640 ft) wide at its narrowest point – in 1950 it was 62 miles (100 km) It shattered in April 2009 over an area measuring 12.5 by 1.5 miles (20.1 by 2.4 km). The ice bridge collapsed rapidly, turning into hundreds of icebergs.^[1]

See also

• Composite Antarctic Gazetteer
• List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands
• List of Antarctic islands south of 60° S
• SCAR
• Territorial claims in Antarctica

References

1. ^ Smith, Lewis (April 6, 2009). "Breakaway ice shelf will reshape map of Antarctica". London: Times Online. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6041360.ece. Retrieved April 6, 2009. 

Coordinates: 69°45′S 75°15′W / 69.75°S 75.25°W / -69.75; -75.25