Saunders Island, South Sandwich Islands


Saunders Island is a crescent-shaped island long, lying between Candlemas Island and Montagu Island in the South Sandwich Islands, a British Overseas Territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is a volcanic island composed of an active stratovolcano, Mount Michael.

History

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 DI personnel aboard Discovery II. The island was surveyed in 1964 by HMS Protector after whose captain, Captain Martin S. Ollivant, the westernmost point, Ollivant Point, is named. Shackleton sometimes misspells the island's name as "Sanders Island" in his book.

Volcano

Mount Michael is known to have erupted explosively in 1819, and has erupted repeatedly since 2000, most recently in 2005. The diameter summit crater contains a persistent lava lake, one of only eight in the world.