Marion History

Marion and Prince Edward Island represent the peaks of a volcano (although still active it is not to a great extent). The last minor erruption was recorded in 2004 on the south side of the Island by one of the overwintering geomorphologist. Marion Island has been suggested to be approximately 0.5 to 1 million years old. The Island has two main types of lava - grey basalt lava and black lava. Grey basalt lava is the oldest rock type on the islands (dated to approximately 270 000 - 48 000). Skua Ridge, Stoney Ridge and Kerguelen Rise are examples of grey lava ridges on Marion Island. Another age-specific feature of the grey lava are the marks that they bear from the extensive glaciations that took place on the island as recently as 12 000 - 16 000 years ago. These markings are in the form of unsorted rocky material (i.e. stones of different sizes), large solitary boulders, and deep striations in the rocks on grey lava ridges.

Prince Edward Island, on the other hand, shows no signs of glaciation, which may be due to the fact that this low island was never covered to any extent by ice sheets, or because the western side of the island has been eroded. The glaciations on Marion were fairly extensive during at least three different glacial episodes where temperatures were probably 4 - 7ºC lower than they are at present, and large glaciers are thought to have covered the east coast. During the glacial periods the current vegetation on Marion Island probably would not have been present with only mosses, lichens and possibly a few Azorella selago cushion plants the only vegetation that would have been present.

Rapid melting of the glaciers occured about 12 000 - 16 000 years ago followed by a second volcanic phase which gave rise to the black basalt lava formations (date from approximately 15 000), these formations dominate much of the islands' terrain. The conical red and black scoria cones represent the main areas of explosive eruptions on the islands and many of the large lava flows arose form them. Three kinds of black lava can be found on the Prince Edward Islands - pahoehoe, aa lava and block lava. The best example of Pahoehoe can be seen in the vicinity of La Grange Kop, the Three Sisters and at the base of Fred's Hill. The surfaces of pahoehoe are typically flat or undulating. Aa lava are the most common kind on Marion Island, they are covered with loose black clinker fragments which are ususally piled up in heaps 5 to 20 metres high. These are difficult to cross and are esspecially tiresome on the lower slopes of the island where they are covered by vegetation. The Scientific Station is situated on a vegetation covered aa lava flow. Block lava consist of angular blocks with sharp edges. These are usually heaped in chaotic fashion and form steep, parallel ridges. Santa Rosa Valley, and 'Devill's Footprint (above Cape Davis), represent the best examples of this kind of lava, this terrain is viewed by many as the most difficult to cross.

There are a number of other geological and geomorphological features that can be seen on the islands. Various lava tubes and tunnels that make up the pahoehoe flows, volcanic bombs and streamlined lapilli (or comet-like solidified rocks), can be seen at various parts of the isalnd. However, due to the actions of team members over the years where much of these bombs and lapilli were collected as artefacts very few can now be found on Marion Island. Fortunately much has changed and the removal of any material, including any rocks or stones, from the Prince Edward islands (for non-scientific purposes) is now prohibited. Another interesting occurence can be found amongst the scoria. Between the scoria crystals of pyroxene and oviline can be found, and in some areas pyroxene occurs in abundance, for example on Pyroxene Kop where its name was derived.

Windsorted rock stripes can be seen on exposed areas with some evidence of small-scale geomorphological structures associated with needle ice and other kinds of ground movement caused by freezing conditions. On the edges of the ice plateau, large moraines obscure the ice. During winter, many of the large caverns that are caused by meltwater are covered by only a fine layer of snow, making the ice plateau dangerous. However due to the increase in temperature on Marion Island much of the ice plateau has dissapeared and will continue to do so with the futur predictions of increased temperature.

First Discovery

The earliest evidence of the existence of the Prince Edward Islands can be tdated back to the 4th MArch 1663 when the 1 210-ton Maerseveen under the command of Barent Barentszoon Ham passed the islands en route to Java. The names he gave to the islands were Dina (for the more northerly island) and Maerseveen (for the more Southerly Island). However, no landing was made.

A 100 years later the Islands were "re-discovered" by Marion du Fresne in 1772 and at the time du Fresne had first thought he had reached the long sought Southern continent. du Fresne never landed on the Island due to bad weather, however he onlt abandoned his quest after days. When he eventually realized the land he thought was the Southern continent was actually only islands, he named the group of islands the Frigid Islands and left. Five years later Captain James Cook came across the islands, however His chart did not give the names bestowed by du Fresne and so renamed them both the Prince Edward islands (after the fourth son of King George III). However Cook, at a later stage named the larger island of the group Marion in honour of du Fresne.

Cook and other southern explorers essentially sparked the economic interest in the islands after they reported a wealth of animal life on and around the islands. Visits by Whalers and sealers increased rapidly with the whalers using the islands mainly to seek temporary shelter for their ships. The sealers on the other hand went ashore to specifically obtain skins and oil from the seals. Unfortunately, when and by whom the first landing was made on either of the two islands is not known, however the earliest documented evidence of a landing is of a party of sealers that were dropped off on the Prince Eward Islands in 1803.

One of the first documented records of biological observations were those of observations and collections of seabirds during a British sealing exhibition in 1830-1831, these collections were made by Richard Harris. In April 1840, the HMS erebus of Captain James Clark Ross' Erebus and Terror expedition made dredges at the Prince Edward Islands. These dredges brought up a variety of marine animals. During this visit no landing could be made (due to bad weather) but the names of Cape Crozier and Cape Hooker on Marion Island and Ross Rocks off Prince Edward island were given. On Christmas day 1873, a British corvette, the HMS Challenger arrived at the islands. The corvette was part of a scientific research expedition, that circumnavigated the globe between 1872 and 1876. A landing was made on the north eastern corner of Marion Island. The landing party, including H. N. Moseley, spent the day exploring and collecting samples and specimens while their captain, G. S. Nares, dredged and trawled in the channel between the two islands and around their coastline. The captain aslo made topographical surveys, taking measurements of the isalnds extent and position. Soundings were also made that were carefully plotted. The chart that was compiled from their few days' stay remained the only reliable graphic source of information available since the first discovery of the islands (in 1663) and the time of annexation (in 1947). Unfortunately, no successful landing was made on Prince Edward Island and therefore no biological information could be gathered. Prince Edward Island remained untouched by scientists until after the islands' annexation in 1948 with the first scheduled research visits only carried out in 1965!

A small note should be made of a brief visit to Marion of a French scientific expedition that landed at Ships Cove on the 23rd January 1939, en route to the French sub-Antarctic isalnds from Bougainville. During this visit a small number of specimens were collected and a few photographs taken.

Reference to at least eight vessels that are said to have "come to an end" off the Prince Edward Islands between the time of their discovery in 1663 and annexation in 1947, have been made. Of these eight, five have been in the vicinity of Prince Edward and three at Marion Island (the sites of the wrecks at Prince Edward Island are not known and no remains of them have been discovered). These were the accounts:

- The "French wreck" was the first reference to a ship wreck and was made by a Phelps, one of the memebers of an American sealing expedition, who spent more than two years on Marion Island between 1818 and 1820.

- In in May 1834, thirteen men were found on the northern side of Prince Edward Island, who were marooned from the Cape Town brig, the Merie, that was wrecked nine months prior to their discovery.

- On the 28th of October 1841, the Uxor was wrecked on Marion Island. It is thought that this had occured at Ships Cove.

- On the 19th of June 1849 the most tragic incident in the history of the islands' occured. The Richard Dart, an emigrant ship from Britain, ran aground on Prince edward Island while following a non-stop "composite-sailing" passage from the Thames to New Zealand. A total of 53 of the ship's 63 passengers were lost. Of the fifty three, five women, 10 children and 37 men were drowned during the wreck an one, William Goldsmith, died two months later. After a wait of 72 days the remaining survivors were rescued. This incident is not only the largest known loss of life at either of the Prince Edward Islands but it is also the only known deaths of women and children.

- Castaways were brought back from Prince Edward Island after surviving the wreck of the 147 ton Conservative, a local schooner from Algoa Bay, that ran aground between the end of 1855 and beginning of 1856.

- On the 17th of May 1857 while angaged in sealing activity, the bark Maria, from Cape Town, was washed onto the rocks on the eastern side of Prince Edward Island. Thankfully no lives were lost, however the 28 castaways had to wait nearly seven months on the island before they were returned to Cape Town.

- The largest of all known wrecks took place on the 16th october 1908, when the Norwegian sealing steamer, the Solglimt, beached at Ships Cove while on a sealing mission. The Solglimt was measured 271 feet in lenght and had a gross weight of 1 810 tons. The Solglimt hit a rock pinnacle two miles from the eastern shore of Marion Island, at the time it was stocked with 900 tons of coal and other provisions. The famous rock pinnacle is now know as Solglimt Blinders. The ships captain had just enough time to head for the shore and ram the bow of the ship onto the beach. The crew salvaged as much as possible, before the ship broke in two and slid beneath the surface. Only the tip of the ship's stem was left above the water. The castaways built a small village of timber huts (one for every four of the 70 men). These huts included a large one in the centre which was used as a cookhouse and a storeroom. It is estimated that these sealers must have constructed at least 18 or 19 structures. This settlement was the largest one on the island prior to annexation and the establishment of a permanent base at Transvaal Cove. All the survivors were rescued barely a month after the incident and no further attempts at salvaging the wreck were undertaken by the ship's agents.

- The last vessel to be lost at the islands sank on the 22nd of October 1912. It was the 74 ton sealing schooner Seabird from Cape Town. The ship ran aground in the vicinity of where the Maria had gone down years before. Of the 22 castaways two died, however the deaths were not due to the actual sinking. One of the castaways, named Anderson, died in an accident shortly after the shipwreck, while the other, named Tohure Lundstedt, died due to ilness three months later. Both men were buried on Prince Edward Island in the vicinity of Cave Bay. The survivors later moved to Marion Island and were saved nearly six months after the wreck.

Only two other records are known of ships that have declared shipwreck in the vicinity of the islands. In both instances no vessels or lives were lost. The first incident saw the Garthforce collide with an iceberg between Prince Edward and Marion Island in January 1922. The vessel did not sink and was subsequently towed back to Durban. The second incident involved the sailing research vessel SRV Totorore. On the 31st December 1985, while en route to Marion and other sub-Antarctic islands during a research voyage in the Southern ocean, the vessel was 'knocked down' in high seas. The two crew members, one man and one woman, were left on Marion Island for four months under "shipwrecked status" until their return to Cape. The Captain on the other hand proceeded to New Zealand, and arrived after a little more than nine months at sea.

South Africa became increasingly aware of the islands' strategic position after the second World War, both for defence and navigation. South Africa set about annexing the islands in December 1947. Marion Island was annexed on 29th December 1947 and Prince Edward island was annexed on 4th January 1948, and the first team to occupy Marion was a meteorological team in February 1948. The first scheduled research visit to both islands took place in January 1965. The expedition was lead by Prof. Edward van Zinderen Bakker Sr. of the Univeristy of the Orange Free State which coincided with the relief of the 21 st expedition. The research visit in 1965 was also the first official to Prince Edward Island since the annexation, the reason for this being that the island was not occupied permanently and no weather station was erected there. The only visits to Prince Edward Island since then have been strictly of a scientific nature with all visits being of short duartion during the annual relief voyage to Marion Island.


						HISTORY



						Geology and Glacial History History of Human Occupation Geology and Glacial History Marion and Prince Edward Island represent the peaks of a volcano (although still active it is not to a great extent). The last minor erruption was recorded in 2004 on the south side of the Island by one of the overwintering geomorphologist. Marion Island has been suggested to be approximately 0.5 to 1 million years old. The Island has two main types of lava - grey basalt lava and black lava. Grey basalt lava is the oldest rock type on the islands (dated to approximately 270 000 - 48 000). Skua Ridge, Stoney Ridge and Kerguelen Rise are examples of grey lava ridges on Marion Island. Another age-specific feature of the grey lava are the marks that they bear from the extensive glaciations that took place on the island as recently as 12 000 - 16 000 years ago. These markings are in the form of unsorted rocky material (i.e. stones of different sizes), large solitary boulders, and deep striations in the rocks on grey lava ridges. Prince Edward Island, on the other hand, shows no signs of glaciation, which may be due to the fact that this low island was never covered to any extent by ice sheets, or because the western side of the island has been eroded. The glaciations on Marion were fairly extensive during at least three different glacial episodes where temperatures were probably 4 - 7ºC lower than they are at present, and large glaciers are thought to have covered the east coast. During the glacial periods the current vegetation on Marion Island probably would not have been present with only mosses, lichens and possibly a few Azorella selago cushion plants the only vegetation that would have been present. Rapid melting of the glaciers occured about 12 000 - 16 000 years ago followed by a second volcanic phase which gave rise to the black basalt lava formations (date from approximately 15 000), these formations dominate much of the islands' terrain. The conical red and black scoria cones represent the main areas of explosive eruptions on the islands and many of the large lava flows arose form them. Three kinds of black lava can be found on the Prince Edward Islands - pahoehoe, aa lava and block lava. The best example of Pahoehoe can be seen in the vicinity of La Grange Kop, the Three Sisters and at the base of Fred's Hill. The surfaces of pahoehoe are typically flat or undulating. Aa lava are the most common kind on Marion Island, they are covered with loose black clinker fragments which are ususally piled up in heaps 5 to 20 metres high. These are difficult to cross and are esspecially tiresome on the lower slopes of the island where they are covered by vegetation. The Scientific Station is situated on a vegetation covered aa lava flow. Block lava consist of angular blocks with sharp edges. These are usually heaped in chaotic fashion and form steep, parallel ridges. Santa Rosa Valley, and 'Devill's Footprint (above Cape Davis), represent the best examples of this kind of lava, this terrain is viewed by many as the most difficult to cross. There are a number of other geological and geomorphological features that can be seen on the islands. Various lava tubes and tunnels that make up the pahoehoe flows, volcanic bombs and streamlined lapilli (or comet-like solidified rocks), can be seen at various parts of the isalnd. However, due to the actions of team members over the years where much of these bombs and lapilli were collected as artefacts very few can now be found on Marion Island. Fortunately much has changed and the removal of any material, including any rocks or stones, from the Prince Edward islands (for non-scientific purposes) is now prohibited. Another interesting occurence can be found amongst the scoria. Between the scoria crystals of pyroxene and oviline can be found, and in some areas pyroxene occurs in abundance, for example on Pyroxene Kop where its name was derived. Windsorted rock stripes can be seen on exposed areas with some evidence of small-scale geomorphological structures associated with needle ice and other kinds of ground movement caused by freezing conditions. On the edges of the ice plateau, large moraines obscure the ice. During winter, many of the large caverns that are caused by meltwater are covered by only a fine layer of snow, making the ice plateau dangerous. However due to the increase in temperature on Marion Island much of the ice plateau has dissapeared and will continue to do so with the futur predictions of increased temperature. <top> History of Human Occupation First Discovery The earliest evidence of the existence of the Prince Edward Islands can be tdated back to the 4th MArch 1663 when the 1 210-ton Maerseveen under the command of Barent Barentszoon Ham passed the islands en route to Java. The names he gave to the islands were Dina (for the more northerly island) and Maerseveen (for the more Southerly Island). However, no landing was made. A 100 years later the Islands were "re-discovered" by Marion du Fresne in 1772 and at the time du Fresne had first thought he had reached the long sought Southern continent. du Fresne never landed on the Island due to bad weather, however he onlt abandoned his quest after days. When he eventually realized the land he thought was the Southern continent was actually only islands, he named the group of islands the Frigid Islands and left. Five years later Captain James Cook came across the islands, however His chart did not give the names bestowed by du Fresne and so renamed them both the Prince Edward islands (after the fourth son of King George III). However Cook, at a later stage named the larger island of the group Marion in honour of du Fresne. First Landing and Sealing Activities Cook and other southern explorers essentially sparked the economic interest in the islands after they reported a wealth of animal life on and around the islands. Visits by Whalers and sealers increased rapidly with the whalers using the islands mainly to seek temporary shelter for their ships. The sealers on the other hand went ashore to specifically obtain skins and oil from the seals. Unfortunately, when and by whom the first landing was made on either of the two islands is not known, however the earliest documented evidence of a landing is of a party of sealers that were dropped off on the Prince Eward Islands in 1803. First Scientific Recordings One of the first documented records of biological observations were those of observations and collections of seabirds during a British sealing exhibition in 1830-1831, these collections were made by Richard Harris. In April 1840, the HMS erebus of Captain James Clark Ross' Erebus and Terror expedition made dredges at the Prince Edward Islands. These dredges brought up a variety of marine animals. During this visit no landing could be made (due to bad weather) but the names of Cape Crozier and Cape Hooker on Marion Island and Ross Rocks off Prince Edward island were given. On Christmas day 1873, a British corvette, the HMS Challenger arrived at the islands. The corvette was part of a scientific research expedition, that circumnavigated the globe between 1872 and 1876. A landing was made on the north eastern corner of Marion Island. The landing party, including H. N. Moseley, spent the day exploring and collecting samples and specimens while their captain, G. S. Nares, dredged and trawled in the channel between the two islands and around their coastline. The captain aslo made topographical surveys, taking measurements of the isalnds extent and position. Soundings were also made that were carefully plotted. The chart that was compiled from their few days' stay remained the only reliable graphic source of information available since the first discovery of the islands (in 1663) and the time of annexation (in 1947). Unfortunately, no successful landing was made on Prince Edward Island and therefore no biological information could be gathered. Prince Edward Island remained untouched by scientists until after the islands' annexation in 1948 with the first scheduled research visits only carried out in 1965! A small note should be made of a brief visit to Marion of a French scientific expedition that landed at Ships Cove on the 23rd January 1939, en route to the French sub-Antarctic isalnds from Bougainville. During this visit a small number of specimens were collected and a few photographs taken. Shipwrecks, Castaways and Lives Lost Reference to at least eight vessels that are said to have "come to an end" off the Prince Edward Islands between the time of their discovery in 1663 and annexation in 1947, have been made. Of these eight, five have been in the vicinity of Prince Edward and three at Marion Island (the sites of the wrecks at Prince Edward Island are not known and no remains of them have been discovered). These were the accounts: - The "French wreck" was the first reference to a ship wreck and was made by a Phelps, one of the memebers of an American sealing expedition, who spent more than two years on Marion Island between 1818 and 1820. - In in May 1834, thirteen men were found on the northern side of Prince Edward Island, who were marooned from the Cape Town brig, the Merie, that was wrecked nine months prior to their discovery. - On the 28th of October 1841, the Uxor was wrecked on Marion Island. It is thought that this had occured at Ships Cove. - On the 19th of June 1849 the most tragic incident in the history of the islands' occured. The Richard Dart, an emigrant ship from Britain, ran aground on Prince edward Island while following a non-stop "composite-sailing" passage from the Thames to New Zealand. A total of 53 of the ship's 63 passengers were lost. Of the fifty three, five women, 10 children and 37 men were drowned during the wreck an one, William Goldsmith, died two months later. After a wait of 72 days the remaining survivors were rescued. This incident is not only the largest known loss of life at either of the Prince Edward Islands but it is also the only known deaths of women and children. - Castaways were brought back from Prince Edward Island after surviving the wreck of the 147 ton Conservative, a local schooner from Algoa Bay, that ran aground between the end of 1855 and beginning of 1856. - On the 17th of May 1857 while angaged in sealing activity, the bark Maria, from Cape Town, was washed onto the rocks on the eastern side of Prince Edward Island. Thankfully no lives were lost, however the 28 castaways had to wait nearly seven months on the island before they were returned to Cape Town. - The largest of all known wrecks took place on the 16th october 1908, when the Norwegian sealing steamer, the Solglimt, beached at Ships Cove while on a sealing mission. The Solglimt was measured 271 feet in lenght and had a gross weight of 1 810 tons. The Solglimt hit a rock pinnacle two miles from the eastern shore of Marion Island, at the time it was stocked with 900 tons of coal and other provisions. The famous rock pinnacle is now know as Solglimt Blinders. The ships captain had just enough time to head for the shore and ram the bow of the ship onto the beach. The crew salvaged as much as possible, before the ship broke in two and slid beneath the surface. Only the tip of the ship's stem was left above the water. The castaways built a small village of timber huts (one for every four of the 70 men). These huts included a large one in the centre which was used as a cookhouse and a storeroom. It is estimated that these sealers must have constructed at least 18 or 19 structures. This settlement was the largest one on the island prior to annexation and the establishment of a permanent base at Transvaal Cove. All the survivors were rescued barely a month after the incident and no further attempts at salvaging the wreck were undertaken by the ship's agents. - The last vessel to be lost at the islands sank on the 22nd of October 1912. It was the 74 ton sealing schooner Seabird from Cape Town. The ship ran aground in the vicinity of where the Maria had gone down years before. Of the 22 castaways two died, however the deaths were not due to the actual sinking. One of the castaways, named Anderson, died in an accident shortly after the shipwreck, while the other, named Tohure Lundstedt, died due to ilness three months later. Both men were buried on Prince Edward Island in the vicinity of Cave Bay. The survivors later moved to Marion Island and were saved nearly six months after the wreck. Only two other records are known of ships that have declared shipwreck in the vicinity of the islands. In both instances no vessels or lives were lost. The first incident saw the Garthforce collide with an iceberg between Prince Edward and Marion Island in January 1922. The vessel did not sink and was subsequently towed back to Durban. The second incident involved the sailing research vessel SRV Totorore. On the 31st December 1985, while en route to Marion and other sub-Antarctic islands during a research voyage in the Southern ocean, the vessel was 'knocked down' in high seas. The two crew members, one man and one woman, were left on Marion Island for four months under "shipwrecked status" until their return to Cape. The Captain on the other hand proceeded to New Zealand, and arrived after a little more than nine months at sea. Annexation and Occupation South Africa became increasingly aware of the islands' strategic position after the second World War, both for defence and navigation. South Africa set about annexing the islands in December 1947. Marion Island was annexed on 29th December 1947 and Prince Edward island was annexed on 4th January 1948, and the first team to occupy Marion was a meteorological team in February 1948. The first scheduled research visit to both islands took place in January 1965. The expedition was lead by Prof. Edward van Zinderen Bakker Sr. of the Univeristy of the Orange Free State which coincided with the relief of the 21 st expedition. The research visit in 1965 was also the first official to Prince Edward Island since the annexation, the reason for this being that the island was not occupied permanently and no weather station was erected there. The only visits to Prince Edward Island since then have been strictly of a scientific nature with all visits being of short duartion during the annual relief voyage to Marion Island. <top>






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