Peter I Island

The first sighting of Peter I Island was made on 21 October 1821 by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen's expedition, who commanded the ships Vostok and Mirny under the Russian flag. He named the island after Tsar Peter I of Russia. Drift ice made it impossible for Bellinghausen to come nearer than from the island. It was the first land to have been spotted south of the Antarctic Circle, and was thus also the southernmost sighted land at the time of its discovery. In January 1910, the French expedition led by Jean-Baptiste Charcot and his ship Pourquoi-Pas confirmed Bellingshausen's discovery, but they also did not land, being stopped from the island by pack ice. The first expedition to land on the island was the Christensen-financed second Norvegia expedition, led by Nils Larsen and Ola Olstad. They landed on 2 February 1929 and claimed the island for Norway. Larsen attempted to land again in 1931, but was hindered by pack ice. The next landing occurred on 10 February 1948 by Larsen's ship Brategg. Biological, geological and hydrographic surveys underwent for three days, before the pack ice forced the expedition to leave. The expedition built a hut and placed a copy of the document of occupation from 1929 inside. On 23 June 1961, Peter I Island became subject to the Antarctic Treaty, after Norway's signing of the treaty in 1959. Since then, there have been several landings on the island by various nations for scientific investigations, Three DX-peditions have been sent to the island, in 1987, 1994 and 2006. == Geography ==

in 1994 Peter I Island is a volcanic island located off the coast of Ellsworth Land of continental Antarctica, and about to the south-west of Smith Island, the nearest of the South Shetland Islands. It has an area of . The island is almost entirely covered by glacier, Surrounding the island is a tall ice front and vertical cliffs. The long stretches of ice caps are supplemented with rock outcrops. The island is a shield volcano, although it is not known if it is still active, and it has been categorized as either Holocene or historic, based on date samples ranging from years ago. The summit, Lars Christensen Peak, is a wide circular crater. An ultra-prominent peak at elevation, it is named after Lars Christensen. It is not known whether this volcano is extinct or not, because the upper part is apparently unmodified by glaciation, indicating an eruption several centuries ago. == Environment ==

The island has a very harsh climate with strong winds and freezing temperatures. The vegetation of the island consists exclusively of mosses and lichens which have adapted to the extreme Antarctic climate of Peter I Øy. Seaweed and algae also exist. The steady snowfall keeps the vegetation here to a minimum. == Biodiversity ==

The islands biodiversity have only been subjected to a limited number of studies and a limited number of taxonomic groups. Despite this, it has been found that this island is host to a high degree of biodiversity with it being much more biodiverse than any other part of the Bellingshausen Sea. An example of the islands diversity can be seen with a study by (Troncoso et al. 2007) where they pulled only four box cores of marine sediment and reveal 22 species of mollusk. Birds The island is a breeding ground for a few seabirds, particularly southern fulmars, but also Wilson's storm petrels and Antarctic terns. Penguins, including Adélie and chinstrap penguins, visit the island infrequently. Mammals There are numerous seals, particularly crabeater seals, leopard seals and smaller numbers of southern elephant seals. The island also contains Weddell Seals. The island has many species of whales such as Humpback whales, Antarctic minke whales, Sei whales, Blue whales, Fin whales and Sperm whales. Plants The only plants on the island are mosses and lichens with seaweed and algae located in the surrounding sea. Algal species that live anround the island include Desmarestia anceps, Sarcopeltis skottsbergii, Iridaea cordata, Myriogramme manginii, Phycodrys quercifolia, Prasiola crispa and various species of Plocamium. History of research The high amount of biodiversity that the island has was not always known. Information about benthic macrofauna of the island and surrounding sea was scarce. This scarcity of knowledge is likely due to poor sampling. The BENTART program (BENTART 03 from 24 January-3 March 2003 and BENTART 06 from 2 January-17 February 2006) had RV Hesperides send to the island where a more detailed study of the benthic life, such as mollusk, can be done. == Politics ==

Peter I Island is one of Norway's two territorial claims in Antarctica, the other being Queen Maud Land. Other countries however, including the United States, do not recognize this claim. Peter I Island is the only claim within 90°W and 150°W and is also the only claim which is not a sector. Being south of 60°S, the island is subject to the Antarctic Treaty. The annexation of the island is regulated by the Dependency Act of 24 March 1933. It establishes that Norwegian criminal law, private law and procedural law applies to the island, in addition to other laws that explicitly state they are valid on the island. It further establishes that all land belongs to the state, and prohibits the storage and detonation of nuclear products. == See also ==