Brabant Island is the second largest island of the Palmer Archipelago within the British Antarctic Territory, lying between Anvers Island and Liège Island. Brabant Island is long north-south, wide, and rises to in Mount Parry. The interior of the island is occupied by two mountain ranges, Solvay Mountains (Cook Summit, 1590 m) in its southern part and Stribog Mountains (summit Mount Parry) in its central and northern parts.
It was named by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition (1897–1899) under Adrien de Gerlache, who named it after the Belgian Province of Brabant, in recognition of the support given to the expedition by its citizens.
A paper summarizing the Joint Services expedition of 1984–1985 describes the island as "notoriously inhospitable" and states that there is evidence for only six visits between the discovery in 1898 and 1984. Members of the expedition overwintered there in 1984–1985, and made the first ascent of Mount Parry.
History On 6 February 2024, for the first time since 2017, British Royal Navy personnel from HMS Protector landed on the island in an effort to clear three tonnes of waste and abandoned equipment from the 1980s antarctic expedition.
Geology The Brabant Island Tectonic Block includes up to 2000 m of basaltic-andesitic lavas and volcaniclastics, possibly corresponding to the Lower Cretaceous Antarctic Peninsula Volcanic Group of the Danco Coast. This group is intruded by a granodiorite sill and Early Eocene hypabyssal dykes. Late Tertiary to Pleistocene basaltic lavas uncomformably overlay this complex.
Maps Antarctic Digital Database (ADD). Scale 1:250000 topographic map of Antarctica. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). Since 1993, regularly upgraded and updated. British Antarctic Territory. Scale 1:200000 topographic map. DOS 610 Series, Sheet W 64 62. Directorate of Overseas Surveys, Tolworth, UK, 1980. Brabant Island to Argentine Islands. Scale 1:250000 topographic map. British Antarctic Survey, 2008.
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See also Gerlache Strait Geology Composite Antarctic Gazetteer List of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands List of Antarctic islands south of 60° S SCAR Territorial claims in Antarctica
Further reading John Kimbrey, Joint Services Expedition to Brabant Island, Antarctica, P 179 Jim D Hansom, C.P. Flint, Holocene ice fluctuations on Brabant Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctic Science 1 (2), PP 165 – 166 Damien Gildea, Antarctic Peninsula - Mountaineering in Antarctica: Travel Guide William James Mills, Exploring Polar Frontiers: A Historical Encyclopedia, P 99
References
External links Map of the area U.S. Geological Survey, Atlas of Antarctic Research Brazilian Antarctic Program Brabant Island on AADC website Brabant Island on NASA website current weather on Brabant Island long term updated weather for Brabant Island weather statistics for Brabant Island