Young Island (Young Island)
Young Island (-66.28333°N, 162.41667°W) is the northernmost and westernmost of the three main islands in the uninhabited Balleny Islands group located in the Southern Ocean. It lies 8 km northwest of Buckle Island, some 115 km north-northeast of Belousov Point on the Antarctic mainland.
The island is roughly semi-oval in shape, with a long straight east coast and a curved west coast meeting at Cape Scoresby in the south and Cape Ellsworth in the north. The distance between these two capes is 19 nmi, and at its widest the island is 4 nmi across. The island is volcanic, with active fumaroles, and a height of 1340 m. It is entirely covered with snow. An explosive VEI-7 eruption occurred from Young Island 1,700,000 years ago.
Several small islets lie in the channel separating Cape Scoresby and Buckle Island, the largest of which is Borradaile Island. Several sea stacks lie off the island's northern tip. These are known as the Seal Rocks.
The island forms part of the Ross Dependency, claimed by New Zealand (see Antarctic territorial claims).
On some days near the Southern Hemisphere summer solstice, Young Island is the first place on land to have a sunrise - that is, the sun sets very briefly, and then rises again earlier in the day than anywhere else on Earth.
* List of Antarctic islands south of 60° S
The island is roughly semi-oval in shape, with a long straight east coast and a curved west coast meeting at Cape Scoresby in the south and Cape Ellsworth in the north. The distance between these two capes is 19 nmi, and at its widest the island is 4 nmi across. The island is volcanic, with active fumaroles, and a height of 1340 m. It is entirely covered with snow. An explosive VEI-7 eruption occurred from Young Island 1,700,000 years ago.
Several small islets lie in the channel separating Cape Scoresby and Buckle Island, the largest of which is Borradaile Island. Several sea stacks lie off the island's northern tip. These are known as the Seal Rocks.
The island forms part of the Ross Dependency, claimed by New Zealand (see Antarctic territorial claims).
On some days near the Southern Hemisphere summer solstice, Young Island is the first place on land to have a sunrise - that is, the sun sets very briefly, and then rises again earlier in the day than anywhere else on Earth.
* List of Antarctic islands south of 60° S
Map - Young Island (Young Island)
Map
Country - Antarctica
Antarctica is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe, and has an area of 14200000 km2. Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average thickness of 1.9 km.
Antarctica is, on average, the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and it has the highest average elevation. It is mainly a polar desert, with annual precipitation of over 200 mm along the coast and far less inland. About 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen in Antarctica, which, if melted, would raise global sea levels by almost 60 m. Antarctica holds the record for the lowest measured temperature on Earth, −89.2 C. The coastal regions can reach temperatures over 10 C in summer. Native species of animals include mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Where vegetation occurs, it is mostly in the form of lichen or moss.
Antarctica is, on average, the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and it has the highest average elevation. It is mainly a polar desert, with annual precipitation of over 200 mm along the coast and far less inland. About 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen in Antarctica, which, if melted, would raise global sea levels by almost 60 m. Antarctica holds the record for the lowest measured temperature on Earth, −89.2 C. The coastal regions can reach temperatures over 10 C in summer. Native species of animals include mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Where vegetation occurs, it is mostly in the form of lichen or moss.