Tower Island Explained

Tower Island
Map:Antarctica
Location:Antarctica
Archipelago:Palmer Archipelago
Length Km:9
Elevation M:305
Population:Uninhabited
Country:None
Treaty System:Antarctic Treaty System

Tower Island is an Antarctic island 50NaN0 long and 3050NaN0 high. It marks the north-east extent of Palmer Archipelago. It lies 20nmi north-east of Trinity Island, separated by Gilbert Strait. Both islands are separated from the Davis Coast to the south by Orléans Strait, running northeast–southwest. The Pearl Rocks lie off the West Coast of Tower Island.

The island was named on 30 January 1820 by Edward Bransfield, Master, Royal Navy, who described it as a round island.

Named features

A number of features on Tower Island have been charted and named by various Antarctic expeditions. The following description of features begins from the north and proceeds clockwise along the coast to the east.

East coast

The northernmost point of the island is called Cape Leguillou. It was charted by a French expedition under Captain Jules Dumont d'Urville, 1837–40, and named by him after Élie Le Guillou, a surgeon on the expedition corvette . The name has been consistently used since that time. Ploski Cove (Bulgarian: залив Плоски, ‘Zaliv Ploski’ \'za-liv 'plo-ski\), named after the village of Ploski in Bulgaria, is located to the east of the cape. It is and indents the coast by . Traverso Point forms the coast's southeastern edge.

Harmanli Cove (Bulgarian: залив Харманли|zaliv Harmanli, in Bulgarian pronounced as /ˈzalif ˈxarmɐnli/) is a cove on the eastern cove of Tower Island. It indents the coast to a depth of . The cove is named after the town of Harmanli in southeastern Bulgaria. To the south is Cape Dumoutier, the eastern tip of Tower Island. It was named by d'Urville's expedition for Pierre Dumoutier, a surgeon with the expedition. Continuing south is Breste Cove, which is wide and deep. It is named for the settlement of Breste in northern Bulgaria. South of that is Castillo Point.

Condyle Point is the southeast point of the island. It was named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (UK-APC). The name is descriptive of the shape of this feature: a condyle is the rounded prominence at the end of a bone.

The southernmost point of the island is Peña Point.

West coast

Ustina Point (Bulgarian: нос Устина, 'Nos Ustina' \'nos 'us-ti-na\) is a rocky point on the island's west coast. The point is named after the settlement of Ustina in southern Bulgaria. It is situated 2.6 km northwest of Peña Point.

Closer to the north end of the island, Kranevo Point (Bulgarian: нос Кранево, ‘Nos Kranevo’ \'nos 'kra-ne-vo\), named for the Bulgarian village of Kranevo, forms the south side of the entrance to Mindya Cove. Mindya Cove, named for Mindya, Bulgaria, is cove indenting the island's northwest coast for .

Coastal rock groups

See also

External links