Orthographic projection centered over Anvers IslandLocation map, for Anvers Island in the Palmer Archipelago of Antarctica. Map centered near 65°00′S 64°00′W.
The Palmer Station on Anvers Island is located at (64°46′S64°03′W / 64.77°S 64.05°W / -64.77; -64.05) and is Antarctica's only U.S. station north of the Antarctic Circle. Construction finished in 1968. Around 50 people can inhabit Palmer Station at one time. The station is named for Nathaniel B. Palmer, likely to have been one of the first three persons to see Antarctica. There are science labs in the station, as well as a dock.
The former station of the British Antarctic Survey
On Anvers Island, the British Antarctic Survey built and operated a station (Base N) for the purpose of survey and geology.[1] It consisted of a hut and was occupied from February 27, 1955, until January 10, 1958. In 1958, the station was closed when local work was completed. Its hut was loaned to the U.S. Government on July 2, 1963, which converted it into a biological laboratory in January 1965 for use by American scientists at the nearby Palmer Station. The British station was open in support of an air facility from 1969 until 1971. It was destroyed by fire on December 28, 1971, while being renovated by the British Antarctic Survey. Debris was removed by the members of the US Antarctic Program in 1990/1991. Only concrete foundations remain.
A skiway was in use from 1969 to 1973. The air operations were transferred to Adelaide (Station T) in 1973 when the skiway deteriorated. The skiway remained intermittently in use until November 15, 1993.
The Anvers-Melchior Islands Tectonic Block includes the northwest portion of Anvers Island and the Melchior Islands offshore. The block is bounded on the southeast by the SW-NE trending strike-slip Fournier Fault. The block is composed of a volcanic suite which may correspond to the Antarctic Peninsula VolcanicGroup. Granite, diorite, and tonaliteplutons indicate three phases of intrusion dated at 68-54 Ma, 34 Ma, and 21-20 Ma. Two distinct systems of dykes are present, possibly of Tertiary age. The southeast portion of Anvers Island is part of the Neumayer Channel Tectonic Block.[4]
Cultural references
Anvers Island was the scene of the protagonist Grim Fiddle's "kingdom" and his later imprisonment in John Calvin Batchelor's novel The Birth of the People's Republic of Antarctica. Fiddle was an adventurer in a dystopianfuture world with many references to Norse mythology.
Features
Félicie Point, forms the south end of Lion Island, lying immediately east of Anvers Island
Hippolyte Point, marks the northeast end of Lion Island, lying immediately east of Anvers Island
Lion Sound, a small passage between Lion Island and the southeast coast of Anvers Island
Zeus Ridge, a heavily crevassed ridge in central Anvers Island
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