# Rothschild Island

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Island in Antarctica

For the Antarctic island formerly known as Rothschild Island, see [Splitwind Island](/source/Splitwind_Island).

Rothschild Island Rothschild Island Location in Antarctica Geography Location Antarctica Coordinates 69°36′S 72°33′W / 69.600°S 72.550°W / -69.600; -72.550 Area 700 km2 (270 sq mi) (approximately)[1] Length 39 km (24.2 mi) Administration Administered under the Antarctic Treaty System Demographics Population Uninhabited

**Rothschild Island** is a black, rugged island 39 kilometres (24 mi) long, mainly ice-covered but surmounted by prominent peaks of the [Desko Mountains](/source/Desko_Mountains) in [Antarctica](/source/Antarctica), 8 kilometres (5 mi) west of the north part of [Alexander Island](/source/Alexander_Island) in the north entrance to [Wilkins Sound](/source/Wilkins_Sound).[2]

## Geography and wildlife

[Lazarev Bay](/source/Lazarev_Bay) separates Rothschild Island from [Alexander Island](/source/Alexander_Island). There is a mountain range on Rothschild Island, the [Desko Mountains](/source/Desko_Mountains), which spans 20 miles (32 km) from [Bates Peak](/source/Bates_Peak) to [Overton Peak](/source/Overton_Peak) and rises to about 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) at [Enigma Peak](/source/Enigma_Peak), [Fournier Ridge](/source/Fournier_Ridge). It also contains [Goward Peak](/source/Goward_Peak), [Mirnyy Peak](/source/Mirnyy_Peak), [Morrill Peak](/source/Morrill_Peak), [Schenck Peak](/source/Schenck_Peak) and [Thuma Peak](/source/Thuma_Peak).

There are three small [outcrops](/source/Outcrop) of [volcanic rock](/source/Volcanic_rock) on the island, with an exposed thickness of around a hundred meters.[3]

An [emperor penguin](/source/Emperor_penguin) [colony](/source/Colony_(biology)) is located in a bay between [Alexander Island](/source/Alexander_Island) and Rothschild Island, averaging around 700 [breeding pairs](/source/Breeding_pair), a small number. There are four other emperor penguin colonies in the central and eastern portion of the [Bellingshausen Sea](/source/Bellingshausen_Sea); all five were discovered via satellite imagery in the 14 years prior to 2023. As of 2023, the Rothschild Island colony was the only one to have been visited by scientists in 2015–2016. It was also the only colony of the five not to have suffered total breeding failure in 2022 as a result of ice loss. On 20 November 2022, helicopters from the ship *[Le Commandant Charcot](/source/Le_Commandant_Charcot)* counted 820 chicks and 228 adults at this location.[4][5]

## History

[File:Alexander Island Survey Control.pdf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alexander_Island_Survey_Control.pdf) The island was first sighted in 1825 by [Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen](/source/Fabian_Gottlieb_von_Bellingshausen), who described three peaks. It was also seen by the [French Antarctic Expedition](/source/French_Antarctic_Expedition) (1908–1910), and named Rothschild Island ("Île E. de Rothschild") by [Jean-Baptiste Charcot](/source/Jean-Baptiste_Charcot), in honour of [Édouard Alphonse James de Rothschild](/source/%C3%89douard_Alphonse_James_de_Rothschild) (1868–1949), head of the [Rothschild banking family of France](/source/Rothschild_banking_family_of_France) and president of [de Rothschild Frères](/source/De_Rothschild_Fr%C3%A8res).[2][6]

In the subsequent explorations of the area by the [British Graham Land Expedition](/source/British_Graham_Land_Expedition) (c. 1934–1937), the feature was believed to be a mountain connected to Alexander Island.[2] Geologically, this might be true, but it has not been proven by any means due to a lack of anything like a complete geological survey of the region.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

However, Rothschild Island's insularity was reaffirmed in November 1940 by the [United States Antarctic Service Expedition](/source/United_States_Antarctic_Service_Expedition), which photographed and roughly mapped the island from the air and discovered a strait.[2][6]

Rothschild Island was mapped in detail from air photos taken by the [Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition](/source/Ronne_Antarctic_Research_Expedition) (1946–1948) and by Searle of the [Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey](/source/Falkland_Islands_Dependencies_Survey) in 1960, and from US governmental satellite imagery taken in 1974.[2][6]

In January 1976, a [British Antarctic Survey](/source/British_Antarctic_Survey) team consisting of surveyor Richard Barrett and general assistant Mike Chantry became the first to visit Rothschild Island. During five weeks in 1976–1977, B. W. Care, together with a general assistant, [mapped the geology](/source/Geological_map) of the island.[6] In 1985, researcher Malcolm Hole became the second to visit the island; a part of it, the Hole peninsula, was named in his honour in 2021.[7]

## Threats and preservation

Although this very remote part of the world has never been inhabited and is protected by the [Antarctic Treaty System](/source/Antarctic_Treaty_System), which bans industrial development, waste disposal, and nuclear testing, these fragile ecosystems still face threats from increasing tourism, primarily on cruises across the [Southern Ocean](/source/Southern_Ocean) from the port of [Ushuaia](/source/Ushuaia), [Argentina](/source/Argentina).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

## See also

- [Geography portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Geography)
- [Islands portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Islands)

- [Larsen Ice Shelf](/source/Larsen_Ice_Shelf)

- [Composite Antarctic Gazetteer](/source/Composite_Antarctic_Gazetteer)

- [List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands](/source/List_of_Antarctic_and_sub-Antarctic_islands)

- [List of Antarctic islands south of 60° S](/source/List_of_Antarctic_and_sub-Antarctic_islands#List_of_Antarctic_islands_south_of_60°_S)

- [SCAR](/source/Scientific_Committee_on_Antarctic_Research)

- [Territorial claims in Antarctica](/source/Territorial_claims_in_Antarctica)

- [List of Antarctic ice shelves](/source/List_of_Antarctic_ice_shelves)

- [Wilkins Sound](/source/Wilkins_Sound)

## References

This article incorporates [public domain material](https://www.usgs.gov/information-policies-and-instructions/copyrights-and-credits) from ["Rothschild Island"](https://web.archive.org/web/2020/https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=gnispq:5:::NO::P5_ANTAR_ID:12943). *[Geographic Names Information System](/source/Geographic_Names_Information_System)*. [United States Geological Survey](/source/United_States_Geological_Survey).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Care, B. W. ["The Geology of Rothschild Island, North-West Alexander Island"](https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/524889/1/bulletin50_09.pdf) (PDF). [British Antarctic Survey](/source/British_Antarctic_Survey). Retrieved 9 August 2024.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-usgs_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-usgs_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-usgs_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-usgs_2-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-usgs_2-4) ["Antarctica Detail"](https://web.archive.org/web/20200619203034/https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=gnispq:5:0::NO::P5_ANTAR_ID:12943). *[United States Geological Survey](/source/United_States_Geological_Survey)*. Archived from [the original](https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=gnispq:5:0::NO::P5_ANTAR_ID:12943) on 19 June 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Rowley, P.D.; Thomson, J.W.; Smellie, J.L.; Laudon, T.S.; La Prade, K.E.; LeMasurier, W.E.; Hole, M.J.; O'Neill, J.M.; Kellogg, K.S.; Vennum, W.R. (1990). ["C. Alexander Island, Palmer Island, and Ellsworth Land"](https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/AR048p0256). *Antarctic Research Series*. **48**: 256–301. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1029/AR048p0256](https://doi.org/10.1029%2FAR048p0256). Retrieved 29 November 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Fretwell, Peter T.; Boutet, Aude; Ratcliffe, Norman (24 August 2023). ["Record low 2022 Antarctic sea ice led to catastrophic breeding failure of emperor penguins"](https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-023-00927-x). *[Communications Earth & Environment](/source/Communications_Earth_%26_Environment)*. **4** (1): 1–6. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1038/s43247-023-00927-x](https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs43247-023-00927-x). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [2662-4435](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/2662-4435). Retrieved 29 November 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Ancel, André; Cristofari, Robin; Trathan, Phil N.; Gilbert, Caroline; Fretwell, Peter T.; Beaulieu, Michaël (January 2017). ["Looking for new emperor penguin colonies? Filling the gaps"](https://hal.science/hal-01487906v1/file/1-s2.0-S2351989416301111-main.pdf) (PDF). *Global Ecology and Conservation*. **9**: 171–179. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/j.gecco.2017.01.003](https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.gecco.2017.01.003).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-bwc_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-bwc_6-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-bwc_6-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-bwc_6-3) Care, B. W. (1980). ["The geology of Rothschild Island, north-west Alexander Island"](https://web.archive.org/web/20240301025017/https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/524889/1/bulletin50_09.pdf) (PDF). *British Antarctic Survey Bulletin*. **50**: 87–112. Archived from [the original](https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/524889/1/bulletin50_09.pdf) (PDF) on 1 March 2024. Retrieved 29 November 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Antarctic peninsula named in recognition of Aberdeen geologist's work"](https://web.archive.org/web/20230324150701/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/28/antarctic-peninsula-named-in-recognition-of-aberdeen-geologists-work). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*. [PA Media](/source/PA_Media). 28 April 2021. Archived from [the original](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/28/antarctic-peninsula-named-in-recognition-of-aberdeen-geologists-work) on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.

## Further reading

- Defense Mapping Agency 1992, *[Sailing Directions (planning Guide) and (enroute) for Antarctica](https://books.google.com/books?id=sgSnbMOD_VsC&pg=PA443)*, P 379

## External links

- [Rothschild Island](https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=gnispq:5:::NO::P5_ANTAR_ID:12943) on [USGS](/source/USGS) website

- [Rothschild Island](https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/scar/search_names_action.cfm?search_text=12398&feature_type_code=0&country_id=0&relic_options=include_relics&north=-45.0&south=-90.0&west=-180.0&east=180.0&search_near=&radius=0.5&gazetteers=SCAR) on [SCAR](/source/Scientific_Committee_on_Antarctic_Research) website

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rothschild Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothschild_Island) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothschild_Island?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.