Volcano Live

South Sandwich Islands

59.03 S, 26.58 W
summit elevation 1100 m
stratovolcano

Bristol Island is located in the South Sandwich Islands, Antarctic region. It is situated midway between the tip of South America, the Antarctic peninsula, and Bouvet Island.

Bristol is one of the largest of the South Sandwich Islands. It is roughly square shaped with diameters of 12 and 14 km. Three rocky islets are located SW from Turmoil point.

A conspicuous hill on the east coast of Bristol Island is possibly the only lava dome in the South Sandwich Island group.

1956 Eruption
On 11th January 1956 an eruption on Bristol Volcano was seen from the Argentine hut on Thule Island. The eruption was described as violent and threw up three jets of glowing material 200-300 m high. The eruption lasted 48 hours and no signs of activity was seen in March 1956 when visited by Protector. The site of the 1956 eruption was speculated to have occurred at a crater inland from Turmoil Point.

1935 Eruption
An eruption of Bristol Island was seen on 31st December 1935 from the whaling ship Sourabaya.

Further reading
Leat, P.T., Smellie, J.L., Millar, I.L. and Larter, R.D., 2003. Magmatism in the South Sandwich arc. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 219(1), pp.285-313.

Leat, P.T., Day, S.J., Tate, A.J., Martin, T.J., Owen, M.J. and Tappin, D.R., 2013. Volcanic evolution of the South Sandwich volcanic arc, South Atlantic, from multibeam bathymetry. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 265, pp.60-77.