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Where is it?Deception Island , South Shetland Islands [ -62.953381585 , -60.627783743 ]
What ’s in the photo?A semi - submerged , combat-ready volcanic caldera partly encompass in snow
Deception Island is a semi-submerged volcanic caldera that provides refuge to sailors exploring the Southern Ocean’s rough seas.
Which satellite took the photo?Landsat 8
When was it taken?March 23 , 2018
This striking planet photo shows off the unequaled Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe of Antarctica ’s " Deception Island " — a semi - submerged , dynamic volcanic caldera created by one of the region ’s large known blast , which now provides a oasis for ship and researchers exploring the area around the South Pole .
When you see the caldera’s steep slopes from sea level, it is easy to see why past sailors would have assumed it was a typical barren island.
The shoe - shape island , which is about 9 mile ( 14.5 kilometre ) astray , is located in the Southern Ocean around 65 knot ( 105 kilometre ) from mainland Antarctica . It is one of the South Shetland Islands , which sit in the midriff of the Drake Passage — a stretch of water ordinarily known as the " iceberg graveyard , " due to the number of massive ice slabs thatfall apart as they move through this passing , after breaking off from Antarctic ice sheets .
Deception Island get its challenging name because , from sea grade , it looks like a single substantial landmass circumvent on every side by outrageous drop . But if you approach it and find the narrow 1,600 - foot - wide ( 500 meters ) gap in the caldera ’s rim , known as " Neptune ’s Bellows , " you gain that it have a monolithic hidden lagoon .
Explorers first find the mystic passage in 1820 . Before then , many sailors would have likely devolve by not fuck that its inside , lie with as Port Foster , is an first-class refuge for sailors to wait out monumental storms that frequently hit the Southern Ocean .
Tourists visit Deception Island on cruise ships to enjoy the warm volcanic mud baths dotted along its black sand beaches.
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The unusual land mass was left behind after a major volcanic eruption around 4,000 years ago , which probably launched between 7 and 14 cubic international nautical mile ( 30 and 60 three-dimensional kilometers ) of ash tree and magma into the sky — the equivalent of between 120 million and 240 million Olympian swim syndicate . expert believe this was the large bang in Antarctica for at least the last 12,000 years , according toNASA ’s Earth Observatory .
The island is still volcanically active and has hosted at least 20 small eructation since the remainder of the 19th century . However , it has not catch fire since 1970 and has been tacit since 2015 , when the last seismic bodily process was recorded on the island , accord to the Smithsonian Institute’sGlobal Volcanism Program . There is only one other dynamic vent in Antarctica — Mount Erebus on Ross Island .
Today , Port Foster is household to two permanent research stations endure by Argentina and Spain , according to theBritish Antarctic Survey . A third place , belonging to Chile , was also turn up on the island but was destruct during the 1970 clap .
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There are also between 50,000 and 100,000 breeding pairs of chinstrap penguins ( Pygoscelis antarcticus ) that call the island home , alongside several coinage of seals and seabirds , according to theBBC .
Deception Island is also visited by thousands of tourists every year who travel to the outside island on sail ships and come ashore to enjoy volcanic springs along Port Foster ’s beaches .
