Geography | |
---|---|
Location | Southern Ocean |
Coordinates | 56°18′S 27°35′W / 56.30°S 27.58°W[1] |
Length | 4 km (2.5 mi) |
Width | 3.8 km (2.36 mi) |
Highest elevation | 551 m (1808 ft) |
Highest point | Mount Curry |
Administration | |
United Kingdom | |
Demographics | |
Population | uninhabited |
Zavodovski Island is an uninhabited volcanic island in the Traversay Islands subgroup of the South Sandwich Islands, which are located southeast of South Georgia in the South Atlantic Ocean. Zavodovski is the northernmost of the South Sandwich Islands and consists of one major stratovolcano, Mount Curry, which is surrounded to the east by a plain formed by lava flows. Mount Curry has a fumarolically active crater on the southwestern side, which also bears traces of a sector collapse. An eruption occurred in 2016.
The island was officially discovered in December 1819 by Thaddeus von Bellingshausen. The largest penguin colony on Earth with over a million breeding pairs is situated on Zavodovski. It consists mostly of chinstrap penguins, although other seabirds and penguin species breed on the island as well. Early explorers noted the bad smell of the island, which is reflected in numerous placenames.