Terra Nova Islands

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The Terra Nova Islands are two phantom islands off the coast of East Antarctica. Her presumed position is about 25 kilometers north of the headland Williamson Head.

On March 8, 1961, the Australian polar explorer Phillip Law of board the research ship Magga Dan in the context of an Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition ( ANARE ) will have spotted the two islands. He named it after the research ship Terra Nova, the expedition ship of the British Antarctic Expedition ( 1910-1913 ). From aboard this ship from Lieutenant Harry Pennell had discovered by the Royal Navy different geographical properties in the area and mapped. The Antarctic Names Committee of Australia recognized the naming later officially. The Terra Nova Islands were listed in the result on official nautical charts of the area and recorded in reference books and databases such as the U.S. Geographic Names Information System.

It was not until more than 20 years later it turned out that the islands do not exist. The German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources in 1989 was planning to visit the islands as part of the research expedition GANOVEX V and map. Geologists should land there in a helicopter and take rock samples.

However, the islands could not be from a helicopter, nor found by the research vessel Polar Queen, the coordinates of the islands came within two nautical miles. Also, another reconnaissance flight over a wider area did not yield any further insights, while others recorded there as the smaller islands Aviator Islands and Iceland Babushkin were clearly recognizable. An exploration of the position with echo sounder showed water depths of 170-355 meters in this area. The later expeditions GANOVEX VII and VIII GANOVEX confirmed the non-existence of Terra Nova Iceland.

The undersea Terranova Canyon was named in 1988 after the island group.