4,100 kilometres southwest of Perth, Australia, there is an uninhabited Overseas Territory of the Antarctic Ocean, which is marine within a radius of 3,700 kilometres except for the continent of Antarctica and the French island of Kelgailão. As the only island close to Antarctica that is volcanically active, it also has a particularly rare island ecosystem on Earth that is in pristine condition, and is therefore inscribed on the World Natural Heritage List. The island is Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI).
Heard Island and the Macdonald Islands are Australia's overseas territories in the Antarctic Ocean. Turkey and Australia also participated in the partition of Antarctica but were frozen by the Antarctic Treaty.
A group of sub-Antarctic islands erupted from volcanoes
Heard Island and the Macdonald Islands, precisely divided into Heard Island and The Macdonald Islands, are located on the west side of Heard Island and have a spacing of 43 km. The two islands are about 3880 kilometers away from the southwest corner of Australia, about 600 kilometers northwest of the French overseas territory of Kelguelang Island, and only about 2000 kilometers away from the Antarctic continent in the south, belonging to the sub-Antarctic island group and the only Antarctic island without any wild species.
The Macdonald Islands are located on the west side of Heard Island with a spacing of 43 km.
Heard Island covers an area of 368 square kilometers, 80% of the island's surface is covered by glaciers, and the ice layer is up to 150 meters thick.
Among them, Heard Island belongs to the volcanic island, made of limestone and volcanic eruptions, slightly round, 43 km long, 21 km wide, an area of 368 square kilometers, 80% of the island's surface is covered by glaciers, the ice layer is up to 150 meters thick, the glacier stretches from The Mawson Peak to the island, the Heard Island glacier covers an area of 288 square kilometers in 1947, and fell by 11% to 257 square kilometers in 1988. The terrain of Heard Island is dominated by mountains, but also small islands, reefs, headlands, and coastal reefs are mostly cliffs left by glacial activity. Therefore, there is no good port, and the ship must anchor offshore to land on the island.
The terrain of Heard Island is dominated by mountains, but also small islands, reefs, headlands, and coastal reefs are mostly cliffs left by glacial activity.
With an area of 368 square kilometers, 80% of the island's surface is covered by glaciers, and the ice layer is up to 150 meters thick.
The highest peak on Heard Island is Big Ben (i.e. Mount Mawson), at 2745 meters above sea level, an active volcano about 20 kilometers in diameter that is continuously active, with a crater depth of 70 meters. The climate of the island belongs to the subarctic oceanic climate, in the westerly circulation belt, with strong westerly winds and frequent rainfall (about 270 days of precipitation throughout the year), cold and humid, with an average temperature of 3.7 °C to 5.2 °C in summer, an average temperature of -0.8 °C to 0.3 °C in winter, and an average annual precipitation of 1300-1900 mm. The westerly winds are very strong, averaging 26-33.5 km per year, and the winds are often strong in August, and the weakest season is December.
The highest peak on Heard Island is Big Ben (Mount Mawson), which is 2,745 meters above sea level and is an active volcano about 20 kilometers in diameter that is continuously active.
The climate of Heard Island is a subarctic oceanic climate, in the westerly circulation belt, with strong westerly winds and frequent rainfall all year round, cold and wet.
In this environment, Heard Island has very little soil, a tundra area, mainly herbaceous flowering plants and bryophytes, including herbs, 42 species of mosses, and 50 species of lichens. These species are unique in variety and are of great value for studying plant transplantation and for monitoring the temperature of southern Ocean ecosystems. Moreover, the ecology of the island is almost unaffected by human influences and alien species compared to other Antarctic islands. Although there are not many species, but the number is in the millions, Heard Island is also a paradise for cave-like seabirds such as petrels.
The ecology of Heard Island is virtually unaffected by human influences and alien species compared to other Antarctic islands. Although there are not many species, the number is huge.
Heard Island is a haven for cave-like seabirds such as petrels, with vegetation dominated by herbaceous flowering plants and bryophytes.
The Macdonald Islands, like Heard Island, are volcanic archipelagos formed by volcanic eruptions and consist of 3 islands with steep and rocky terrain and a total area of about 2.5 square kilometers. Macdonald Island covers an area of 1.13 square kilometers, the island volcano erupted in 1992 after 75,000 years of dormancy, the most recent eruption was in 2005, the eruption almost destroyed all the vegetation on the island, but also increased the island area to 2.45 square kilometers, the height rose by 100 meters, and the current highest point is 230 meters above sea level.
The Macdonald Islands, like Heard Island, are volcanic archipelagos formed by volcanic eruptions and consist of 3 islands.
Macdonald Island covers an area of 1.13 square kilometres, and the eruption in 2005 destroyed almost all of the island's vegetation, while also increasing the island's size to 2.45 square kilometres.
The highest point of Ferrat Island is 55 meters above sea level, Meyer Rock is 170 meters above sea level, and Nider Island, the southernmost point of the Macdonald Islands (0.4 km from Mai Island). As the only active volcanic archipelago in the sub-Antarctic region, Heard Island and The Macdonald Islands are "windows to the heart of the earth" and provide excellent places for scientists to observe the evolution of landforms and study glacial dynamics. Coupled with the fact that the island retains a primitive island ecosystem that is rare in the world, in 1997, the two islands were inscribed on the World Natural Heritage List.
The highest point of Macdonald Island is 230 meters above sea level, Meyer Rock is 170 meters above sea level, and the highest point of Ferrat Island is 55 meters above sea level.
William McDonald, captain of a British seal ship, discovered the McDonald Islands in 1854 and occupied the island for 20 years hunting seals and royal penguins.
Historical origins of Heard Island and the Macdonald Islands
Heard Island was discovered by American Captain John Heard in 1853 and named after himself. A few months later, in 1854, William Macdonald, the captain of the British seal ship, discovered the Macdonald Islands, and occupied the island for 20 years hunting seals and royal penguins. Finally, in 1910, The British officially declared sovereignty over Heard Island. Later, due to its remote location, Heard Island and the Macdonald Islands were handed over to Australia in 1947 as an overseas territory of australia.
In 1947, Heard Island and the Macdonald Islands were handed over to Australia by the British and became australian overseas territories.
In 1953, Australia placed Heard Island and the Macdonald Islands under the responsibility of the Antarctic Affairs Division of the Ministry of Environment and Heritage, formulated the Heard Island and Macdonald Island Act, and sent several batches of scientific expeditions, after which in 1955 the two islands were officially closed to the outside world, and private expeditions were carried out on the island in the 1970s. In order to maintain the pristine state of the island and ensure the integrity of the environment in which the animals and plants on the island depend, in 1987 Australia issued the Environmental Protection and Management Act: it strictly prohibits the interference of the growth of the island's flora and fauna, the introduction of any animals and plants, the prevention of the spread of foreign diseases, and the collection of specimens, driving cars, starting fires, using weapons and building permanent buildings on the island.
In 1991, an expedition found traces of Polynesians living on the island more than 800 years ago.
It is worth mentioning that in 1991, an expedition found traces of Polynesians living on the island more than 800 years ago, which also corroborated the Austronesian language family not only sailed east to migrate to the three large seas of the South Pacific Ocean after descending from the southeast coast of China eight thousand years ago, but also sailed west in the Indian Ocean to migrate island by island.
In 2014, the Australian Antarctic Division imposed a ban on access to Heard Island and the Macdonald Islands to protect the island's biodiversity.
Heard Island and The Macdonald Islands were inscribed as World Natural Heritage sites in 1997, joined the United Nations Conservation of Environment and Biodiversity Act in 2002, and in 2014 the Australian Antarctic Division imposed a ban on access to Heard Island and the Macdonald Islands to protect the island's biodiversity. The site of a seal catcher on Heard Island is some of the best preserved in the area. There are no permanent residents here, and Heard Island is frequented by tourists, while Macdonald Island is off the beaten track.
Heard Island is uninhabited, with only scientific research stations, and is a test base for monitoring signs of the "greenhouse effect".
This is Heard Island and the Macdonald Islands, although desolate, but their unique geographical location, giving the two islands direct access to the world's five oceans of the sea, and subsequently became the international joint research team to monitor the "greenhouse effect" of the sign test base. In the future, I hope that this pure land can continue to be silent and live endlessly in the corner of the world.
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