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South Shetland Islands

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South Shetland Islands, barren, snow-covered archipelago off N Antarctic Peninsula, W Antarctica; Livingston and King George islands are the largest. The South Shetlands were bases for sealers in the 19th cent., whalers in the early 20th cent., and also for antarctic exploration; they now have scientific bases. The South Shetlands, discovered by the British mariner William Smith in 1819, are claimed by Great Britain, Argentina, and Chile.
South Shetland Islands 

a group of volcanic islands off the southwestern coast of Palmer Peninsula of Antarctica, separated from the peninsula by Bransfield Strait. The group, which consists of 11 large islands and numerous small islands and rocks, has an area of about 4,300 sq km; the highest elevation, 2,300 m, is on Clarence (Shishkov) Island. Composed of igneous, metamorphic, and, in part, sedimentary rocks, the islands are covered primarily by ice and snow. Mosses and lichens are the principal vegetation. The islands serve as breeding grounds for seals and sea lions and rookeries for seabirds and penguins. Argentina, Great Britain, and Chile have operated scientific stations there from 1944. The Soviet Bellingshausen Scientific Station has been in operation on King George (Waterloo) Island since 1968.

The South Shetland Islands were discovered in 1819 by the Englishman W. Smith. They were first described and mapped by the Russian navigator F. F. Bellingshausen in 1821.



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Your first sight of land after your Antarctic Ocean voyage will be the South Shetland Islands.
The 37 million dollars Kunlun will be China's third Antarctic station, joining the Great Wall station in the South Shetland Islands and the Zhongshan station in east Antarctica.
Tucked in the corner of the frame, however, is a photograph of the ship lying on its side in the icy waters off the South Shetland Islands, in November, 2007.
 
 
 
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