Geography
It is about 6.5 km (4.0 mi) long and 5 km (3.1 mi) wide and rises to 288 m (945 ft) above sea level. Much of the island is permanently covered with ice. The average temperature range is 0 °C (32 °F) to about −10 °C (14 °F) in winter (i.e., in July). The extremes reach about 12 and -44 °C (53.6 and -47.2 °F).
The British Antarctic Survey maintains the Signy Research Station, a scientific station for research in biology. The base was opened on March 18, 1947, on the site of an earlier whaling station that had existed there in the 1920s. The station was staffed year-round until 1996; since that year it has been occupied only from November to April. It houses 10 people.
Read more about this topic: Signy Island
Famous quotes containing the word geography:
“Yet America is a poem in our eyes; its ample geography dazzles the imagination, and it will not wait long for metres.”
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