Kerguelen Islands

Îles Kerguelen

Kerguelen

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Basic data

bgcolor="#FFFFFF" Administrative status: district

bgcolor="#FFFFFF" Country: French Southern and Antarctic Lands

bgcolor="#FFFFFF" Capital: Port-aux-Français

bgcolor="#FFFFFF" Population: ca. 100, during Summer: 200

bgcolor="#FFFFFF" Coordinates:

bgcolor="#FFFFFF" Area: 7 215 km²

bgcolor="#FFFFFF" Coastline: 2.800 km

bgcolor="#FFFFFF" highest peak: Mont Ross (1 850 m)

bgcolor="#FFFFFF" longest Fjord: Baie de Recques (21 km)

bgcolor="#FFFFFF" largest lake: Lac Marville (25 km²)

bgcolor="#FFFFFF" largest islands: Île Kerguelen / Grande Terre (6 675 km²)

bgcolor="#FFFFFF" largest glacier: Cook-Gletscher / Calotte Glaciaire Cook (500 km²)

bgcolor="#FFFFFF" discovery: 12 February 1772, by Yves Joseph de Kerguelen de Trémarec

bgcolor="#FFFFFF" Homepage: www.taaf.fr

The Kerguelen Islands or the Kerguelen Archipelago (French: Îles Kerguelen or Archipel de Kerguelen or officially Archipel des Kerguelen or officially Archipel Kerguelen) is a group of islands in the southern Indian Ocean. The Kerguelen Islands are located at . The main island, Grande Terre, originally called Desolation Island, is 6,675 km² and it is surrounded by another 300 smaller islands and islets, forming an archipelago of 7,215 km². The climate is cold and very windy and the seas are usually rough.

The most important of the satellite islands are:

Île Foch in the north is the largest, with an area of 206.2 km². The highest point is 687 m at Pyramide Mexicaine.
Île Saint-Lanne Gramont, also in the north, is the second largest, with an area of 45.8 km². It is 480 m at the highest point and is located at ).
Île du Port, also in the north in the Golfe des Baliniers, is the third largest with an area of 43.0 km², with a highest altitude of 340 m.
Île de l'Ouest (west, about 40 km²)
Île Longue (southeast, about 40 km²)
Îles Nuageuses (northwest)
Île de Castries
Île Leygues (north)
Île Howe (north)
Île Violette
Île aux Rennes (southeast, area 36.7 km², altitude 199 m, )

The main island measures 150 km east to west and 120 km north to south. The highest peak is Mont Ross, on the west side of the island, with an elevation of 1850 m. It is covered by Cook Glacier. The island has numerous peninsulas. The most important ones are listed below and indicated on the map by numbers:

Péninsule Courbet
Péninsule Rallier du Baty
Péninsule Gallieni
Péninsule Loranchet
Presqu'île Jeanne d'Arc
Presqu'île Ronarc'h
Presqu'île de la Société de Géographie
Presqu'île Joffre
Presqu'île du Prince de Galles
Presqu'île du Gauss
Presqu'île Bouquet de la Grye
Presqu'île d'Entrecasteaux
Presqu'île du Bougainville
Presqu'île Hoche

The islands are one of four districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, and were discovered by Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec in February 1772. The archipelago was exploited for its seal population until their destruction, fur seals in the 18th century and elephant seals in the early 20th century. A number of expeditions have briefly visited the islands, including that of James Cook in 1776.

During Christmas 1940, the German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis was at Kerguelen Island. During their stay they did maintenance and replenished their water supplies. The crew suffered its first fatality when a sailor fell while painting the funnel. He was buried in what is sometimes referred to as "the most southerly German soldier's grave".

Kerguelen has been used by a small number of science teams since 1949, with a population of 50-100 always present. There is also a satellite tracking station. The main island is also home to a well-established feral cat population descended from ships' cats. They survive on sea birds and non-indigenous rabbits introduced to the islands.

The main base, the "capital" of the district, is located at the eastern end of the Golfe du Morbihan at and is known as Port-Aux-Français. Facilities include a bar, gym, hospital, library and the chapel of Notre-dame des Vents. Historic localities, all on the main island, include (also see main map):

Anse Betsy (historic geomagnetic station at ), on Baie Accessible, on the north coast of Péninsule Courbet. At this site, an astronomic and geomagnetic observatory was erected on October 26, 1874 by a German research expedition led by Georg Gustav Freiherr von Schleinitz.
Armor (Base Armor)
Baie de l'Observatoire (historic geomagnetic station at ), just west of Port-Aux-Français, also at the south coast of Péninsule Courbet, northern shore of Golfe du Morbihan. A station was erected at this site by the German Antarctic Expedition led by Erich Dagobert von Drygalski (1902 to 1903).
Cabane Port-Raymond (scientific camp at ), at the head of a fjord cutting off Péninsule Courbet from the south
Cap Ratmanoff (geomagnetic station at , the easternmost point of Kerguelen)
La Montjoie (scientific camp at ), on the south of Baie Rocheuse, northern west coast
Molloy (Pointe Molloy), former observatory 10 km west of later Port-Aux-Français, at the south coast of Péninsule Courbet, northern shore of Golfe du Morbihan. An American expedition led by G. P. Ryan erected a station at this site on September 7, 1874.
Port Bizet (seismographic station at ), on the north coast of Île Longue)
Port Christmas (historic geomagnetic station at ), on Baie de l'Oiseau, Péninsule Loranchet, extreme northwest. The place was named by James Cook, who discovered the islands and who anchored there on Christmas Day, 1797.
Port Couvreux (formerly a whaling station, an experimental sheep farm and a geomagnetic station, at ), on Baie du Hillsborough, on the southeast coast of Presqu'île Bouquet de la Grye. From 1912 sheep were bred to create an economic basis for settlement, but the attempt had to be abandoned in 1931.
Port Curieuse (harbor on the West coast at ), on the west coast across Île du l'Ouest. The site was named after ship Curieuse used by Raymond Rallier du Baty on his second visit the islands in 1913 to 1914.
Port Douzième (literally Twelfth Port, hut and geomagnetic station at ), on the north coast of Presqu'île Ronarch, southern shore of Golfe du Morbihan
Port Jeanne d'Arc (former whaling station founded by Norwegian whalers in 1908, and historic geomagnetic station at ), in the northwestern corner of Presqu'île Jeanne d'Arc, looking across Passe de Buenos Aires to Île Longue (4 km northeast). The derelict settlement consists of four residential buildings with wooden walls and tin roofs and a barn. One of the buildings was restored in 1977.

Since 1963, just east of Port-aux-Français is a launch site for sounding rockets (mainly Arcas, Dragon and Eridan).

The Kerguelen Islands in fiction

In the seafaring novel Desolation Island, one of the Aubrey–Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, the crew repairs their disabled ship on an island that strongly resembles Kerguelen, although a later book in the series asserts that it is a different Desolation Island.

In The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, Edgar Allan Poe's only complete novel, the crew of the Jane Guy alights at Kerguelen Island before eventually pushing on towards the South Pole.

The archipelago plays a role in the novel Kilo Class by Patrick Robinson ISBN 0-06-109685-7

In Biggles' Second Case by W. E. Johns Biggles searches for Nazi Gold during WWII on and around Kerguelen.

Warbots (no. 5) Operation High Dragon involves a secret Chinese military base located on Kerguelen Island. ISBN 1558171592

In the Danish graphic novel Mikkeline på skattejagt (Mikkeline's treasure hunt) by draftsman and cartoonist Claus Deleuran, Desolation Island plays a major role in the plot. In the humorous story the active volcano Mont Ross serves as a back entrance to hell as described in The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. ISBN 87-7378-244-0

The novel The Lost Flying Boat by Alan Sillitoe is situated around Kerguelen, though the islands' geography are not accurately described.

The Swedish comic James Hund by Jonas Darnell & Patrik Norrmann has set at least one episode on Kerguelen, where a satanic nazi conspiracy against the worlds leaders has it's seat.

Trivia

The Kerguelen Islands are one of three territories which are antipodes to the lower 48 United States. The Île Longue of the is Kerguelen Islands is the only point directly opposite of a settled community, Rudyard, Montana. The other two territories which are antipodes are Île Amsterdam and Île Saint-Paul, which lie opposite of areas in Colorado.

External links

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Kerguelen Islands

The Kerguelen Islands in fiction

Trivia

See also

External links