File:Kerguelen Islands Satfoto.jpg
Penguin and seal populations are among the wildlife that thrive on Grande Terre. But because of its remoteness—and the severely cold, windy weather—you won’t find many people. Most residents of the island are scientists based in the settlement of Port-aux-Français, where they study everything from geology and biology to weather and climate.
One area of research involves the myriad bodies of ice. Researchers have shown that between 1963 and 2001, ice-covered areas of the Kerguelen Islands shrank by 21 percent—a phenomenon that’s in-line with what’s happening in Patagonia, South Georgia, and other sub-polar latitudes. Over the same span, the Cook Ice Cap (center) shrank from 501 to 403 square kilometers. And the losses have continued: Subsequent research published in Nature noted that glacier wastage on the islands during the 2000s was “among the most dramatic on Earth.” The main reason was less precipitation and drier air.
But that just scratches the surface of the region’s interesting features. The islands are actually some of highest points on a huge underwater plateau. Given the right nutrients and physical conditions, spectacular blooms of phytoplankton can make an appearance in the waters over the plateau.(Reusing this file)
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