History of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in the Arctic claiming Jan Mayen and Sverdrup Islands, but also in Antarctica. Norway claimed Bouvet Island and looked further south, formally inquiring with Foreign Office about the international status of the area between 45° and 65° south latitude and 35° and 80° west longitude. Following a second such diplomatic démarche by the Norwegian Government dated 4 March 1907, Britain replied that the areas were British based on discoveries made in the first half of the 19th century, and issued the 1908 Letters Patent incorporating the British Falkland Islands Dependencies with a permanent local administration in Grytviken established in 1909.
Bouvet Island pack ice. The Bouvet Triple Junction is located west of Bouvet Island. It is a triple junction between the South American Plate, the African Plate and the Antarctic Plate, and of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the Southwest Indian Ridge and the American–Antarctic Ridge. The island is located south of the Antarctic Convergence, giving it a marine Antarctic climate dominated by heavy clouds and fog. It experiences a mean temperature of , with January average of and September average of . The monthly high mean temperatures fluctuate little through the year. The peak temperature of was recorded in March 1980, caused by