King George Island (South Shetland Islands)

King George Island has three major bays, Maxwell Bay, Admiralty Bay, and King George Bay. Admiralty Bay contains three fjords, and is protected as an Antarctic Specially Managed Area under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty.^[1]

The Fildes Peninsula, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) long, forms the southwest extremity of the island. It was named from association with nearby Fildes Strait by the UK-APC in 1960.

Chilean scientists^[who?] claim that Amerinds visited the area, citing stone artefacts recovered from bottom-sampling operations in Admiralty Bay;^[2] however, the artefacts—two arrowheads—were later found to have been planted.^[3][4]

The island was first claimed for Britain on 16 October 1819, formally annexed^[5][6][7] by Britain as part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies in 1908, and now as part of the separate British Antarctic Territory. The island was claimed by Chile in 1940 as part of the Chilean Antarctic Territory. It was also claimed by Argentina in 1943, and now as part of Argentine Antarctica, called by the Argentines Isla Veinticinco de Mayo (25 May) in honour of their National Day. The United States and Russia do not recognise any Antarctic claim, but have reserved their right to lodge a claim of their own.

The island was discovered and named by the British explorer William Smith in 1819 after King George III.^[8] It is approximately 95 km (59 mi) long and 25 km (16 mi) wide with a land area of 1,150 square kilometres (444 sq mi). Over 90% of the island's surface is permanently glaciated.^[8] In 1821, 11 men of the sealing vessel Lord Melville survived the winter on the island, the first men to do so in Antarctica.^[9]

The coastal areas of the island are home to a comparatively diverse selection of animal life, including elephant, Weddell, and leopard seals, and Adelie, chinstrap and gentoo penguins. Several other seabirds, including skuas and southern giant petrel, nest on this island during the summer months.

In 1971, Denis C. Lindsay published Vegetation of the South Shetland Islands, and in doing so was the first professional botanist to outline the flora of King George Island. Only two vascular plants are known to grow on the island - Antarctic hair grass and Antarctic pearlwort. The flora is otherwise dominated by lichens and mosses. Ryszard Ochyra reports in his 1998 publication that there are 61 distinct species of moss found on the island, which is considered rich for the latitude. This makes King George Island "one of the most muscologically diverse areas in the Antarctic".^[10]

The Antarctic Peninsula and its nearby islands are considered to have the mildest living conditions in Antarctica. The island's climate is strongly influenced by the surrounding ocean.^[17] Under the Köppen system, it is one of the few locations in Antarctica classified as a tundra climate rather than an ice cap climate.^[18] Variation in temperatures are small, with the coldest month, July, averaging −6.5 °C (20.3 °F) and 1.5 °C (34.7 °F) in the warmest month.^[19] With only 591.3 hours of sunshine per year, the weather is often unsettled and cloudy throughout the year, with precipitation in the form of snow, rain, and drizzle occurring often.^[17] On average, 729 mm of precipitation falls per year.^[17]