Adelaide Island
island on the north side of Marguerite Bay off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula
Adelaide Island is a large, mainly ice-covered island, 139 kilometres (75 nmi) long and 37 kilometres (20 nmi) wide, lying at the north side of Marguerite Bay off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. The Ginger Islands lie off the southern end. Mount Bodys is the easternmost mountain on Adelaide Island, rising to over 1,220 m. The island lies within the Argentine, British and Chilean Antarctic claims.
History
Adelaide Island was discovered in 1832 by a British expedition under John Biscoe. The island was first surveyed by the French Antarctic Expedition (1908–1910) under Jean-Baptiste Charcot.
According to a contemporary source, the island was named by Biscoe himself in honour of Queen Adelaide of the United Kingdom, who earlier gave her name to the city in Australia.
The Island has two bases on it. The old Adelaide Island base (also known as Base T) was set up by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS), which later became the British Antarctic Survey. The Base was closed due to an unstable skiway and operations were moved to the new Rothera Research Station during 1976-77; this base remains open.
“Adelaide Island” enters the record as island on the north side of Marguerite Bay off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Adelaide, Island and island can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Adelaide Island” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Adelaide, Island and island provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q353920. VIAF identifies the subject as 244268177. The Library of Congress control number is sh2011004681. Authority coordinates are -67.250, -68.500. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1832, 1908, 1910 and 1976.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Adelaide Island”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Adelaide Island primary sources, Adelaide Island archive and Adelaide research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Adelaide Island”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Adelaide Island” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.