Saunders Island, South Sandwich Islands

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Not to be confused with Saunders Island, Falkland Islands
Saunders Island

South Sandwich Islands
(South Georgia and
the South Sandwich Islands
)

Location

South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands

Location: 26°27’-0"S, 57°46’60"W
Highest point: Mount Michael, 3,248 feet
Data
Population: Uninhabited

Saunders Island is a crescent-shaped island 5½ miles long, lying between Candlemas Island and Montagu Island in the South Sandwich Islands. It is a volcanic island composed of an active stratovolcano, 3,248 feet; Mount Michael.

Mount Michael is known to have erupted explosively in 1819, and has erupted repeatedly since 2000, most recently in 2005. The summit crater 2,297 feet in diameter is thought to possibly contain an active lava lake, one of only a handful in the world.

Saunders Island was discovered in 1775 by Captain James Cook, who named it for Sir Charles Saunders, First Lord of the Admiralty. It was charted in greater detail by Bellingshausen in 1819, and in 1930 by Discovery Investigations personnel on the Discovery II. Shackleton sometimes spells it "Sanders Island" in his book South.

References

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
South Georgia: Annenkov IslandBird IslandClerke RocksCooper IslandGrass IslandKupriyanov IslandsPickersgill IslandsSaddle IslandShag RocksSouth GeorgiaWelcome IslandsWillis IslandsTrinity IslandGrassholmBlack RocksBlack Rock
South Sandwich Islands:

BellingshausenBristolCandlemasCookLeskovMontaguSaundersThuleVindicationVisokoiZavodovski