# Pelseneer Island

**Pelseneer Island** is a small ice-covered island in the south-central portion of [Wilhelmina Bay](https://www.edgepedia.org/wilhelmina-bay), off the west coast of [Graham Land](https://www.edgepedia.org/graham-land) on the [Antarctic Peninsula](https://www.edgepedia.org/antarctic-peninsula).

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Location | South-central Wilhelmina Bay, off the west coast of Graham Land; 3.7 km west of Brooklyn Island<sup>[6](https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/display_name.cfm?gaz_id=129974)</sup> |
| Size | 3.7 km (2 nmi) long and 1.9 km (1 nmi) wide, with three rocky peaks through the icecap<sup>[6](https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/display_name.cfm?gaz_id=129974)</sup> |
| Coordinates | 64°39′S 62°13′W; the Australian Antarctic gazetteer lists 64°40′S 62°12′W<sup>[1](https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/place_names_near_place.cfm?country_id=826&lat=-64.65&lon=-63.15&offset=1.0&place_name=Lion+Sound)</sup> |
| Discovery | Belgian Antarctic Expedition, 1897–99<sup>[6](https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/display_name.cfm?gaz_id=129974)</sup> |
| Naming | Named by Adrien de Gerlache for P. Pelseneer, member of the Belgica Commission<sup>[6](https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/display_name.cfm?gaz_id=129974)</sup> |
| Variant name | Pic Luigi de Savoie<sup>[2](https://pubs.usgs.gov/msb/7000091/report.pdf)</sup> |

## Discovery and naming

The island was discovered by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–99 and named by the expedition leader, Adrien de Gerlache, for P. Pelseneer, a member of the Belgica Commission and writer of some of the expedition's zoological reports.<sup>[6](https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/display_name.cfm?gaz_id=129974)</sup> A Belgian polar heritage publication identifies him as a zoologist and professor at the École Normale Supérieure in Ghent.<sup>[3](https://www.belspo.be/belspo/BePoles/publ/poster%20antarctique_3.pdf)</sup> The same publication describes the island as 4 km long and 2 km wide, lying 4 km west of [Brooklyn Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/brooklyn-island), slightly larger figures than the 3.7 km by 1.9 km dimensions in the [United States Geological Survey](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-states-geological-survey)-derived description.<sup>[3](https://www.belspo.be/belspo/BePoles/publ/poster%20antarctique_3.pdf)</sup>

The United States Geological Survey's 1989 *Gazetteer of Antarctica* records "Pic Luigi de Savoie" as a variant name for the island.<sup>[2](https://pubs.usgs.gov/msb/7000091/report.pdf)</sup> Published positions differ slightly among authorities: 64°39′S 62°13′W in the USGS-derived record, 64°40′S 62°12′W in the Australian Antarctic Data Centre gazetteer, and 64°40′S 62°11′W for the Chilean form "Pelseneer, Isla".<sup>[1](https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/place_names_near_place.cfm?country_id=826&lat=-64.65&lon=-63.15&offset=1.0&place_name=Lion+Sound)</sup>

## Setting in Wilhelmina Bay

Wilhelmina Bay is a bay about 15 nautical miles (28 km) wide between the Reclus Peninsula and [Cape Anna](https://www.edgepedia.org/cape-anna) along the west coast of Graham Land.

## Geology

Pelseneer Island has served as a sample locality for studies of the Trinity Peninsula Group, the sedimentary sequence exposed along the Nordenskjöld Coast of Graham Land. In a K-Ar and Sm-Nr geochronology study of schists from that coast, Sm-Nd analyses of detrital orange garnets from Trinity Peninsula Group sandstones at Pelseneer Island plotted on the same isochron that dates the metamorphism of Silurian plutons in eastern Graham Land, giving a provenance age for the sediment rather than a depositional age; the Trinity Peninsula Group itself is overlain unconformably by the Lower Jurassic Botany Bay Group and younger volcanic strata.<sup>[4](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231862647_New_K-Ar_isotopic_ages_of_schists_from_Nordenskjold_Coast_Antarctic_Peninsula_oldest_part_of_the_Trinity_Peninsula_Group)</sup> A British Antarctic Survey geophysical report lists gravity observations at the island at 64°40.7′S 62°11.7′W.<sup>[5](https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/509457/1/Geophysical%20investigation%20of%20the%20Scotia%20Arc%20-%20BAS%20Scientific%20Report%2046.pdf)</sup>

## References

1. [Antarctic Names Gazetteer, Australian Antarctic Data Centre](https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/place_names_near_place.cfm?country_id=826&lat=-64.65&lon=-63.15&offset=1.0&place_name=Lion+Sound)
2. [Gazetteer of Antarctica, 1989, U.S. Geological Survey](https://pubs.usgs.gov/msb/7000091/report.pdf)
3. [Belgian Antarctic place names poster, Belgian Science Policy (BePoles)](https://www.belspo.be/belspo/BePoles/publ/poster%20antarctique_3.pdf)
4. [Smellie, J.L. and Millar, I.L., New K-Ar isotopic ages of schists from Nordenskjöld Coast, Antarctic Peninsula](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231862647_New_K-Ar_isotopic_ages_of_schists_from_Nordenskjold_Coast_Antarctic_Peninsula_oldest_part_of_the_Trinity_Peninsula_Group)
5. [Geophysical investigation of the Scotia Arc, BAS Scientific Report No. 46](https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/509457/1/Geophysical%20investigation%20of%20the%20Scotia%20Arc%20-%20BAS%20Scientific%20Report%2046.pdf)
6. [Gazetteer - AADC, data.aad.gov.au](https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/gaz/display_name.cfm?gaz_id=129974)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Landforms and terrestrial features › Islands and dry-land coastal features › Arctic and Antarctic islands and subpolar island geography › Antarctic Peninsula islands › West coast islands*

*Initially written Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 25, 2026*

*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*

License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license