King George Island
King George Island (KGI) is the largest island of the South Shetland Islands. It is located at the northern tip of the Western Antarctic Peninsula at 62°23′S, 58°27′W, about 120 kilometres off the coast of the antarctic continent in the Southern Ocean. The island is about 95 km long and up tp 25 km wide, the highest point is Rose Peak with 655 m above sea level. Various big and small bays characterize its appearance. The three major bays in the southeastern part are King George Bay, Admirality Bay and Maxwell Bay. About 90 % of the island's surface are covered by glaciers.
The observed elevated air temperatures at King George Island have resulted in longer annual glacier melt periods accompanied by increased fresh water discharge volumes. Potter Cove is a shallow bay at the Southern side of King George Island. Here, the strong input of sediment containing melt water changes surface seawater properties during summer, leading to shallow salinity stratification and strongly enhanced irradiance attenuation.
Satellite image of King George Island
Check the sea ice cover and weather conditions at Potter Cove, Jubany in 2011 with the Jubany web cam.