They served as a base for British and American sealers and whalers from 1786 until 1965. Human occupation has continued up to the present for scientific and weather observations. The central spine of South Georgia forms a long mountain range with a maximum elevation of 2950m. Much of the coast is skirted by high, steep sea cliffs and numerous small rocky islands. The north side of South Georgia is punctuated with fjords, bays and glacial valleys.
Glaciers are present along with many ponds and abundant swift cascading streams.
The summer snow line ranges between 450 and 600m along the warmer north slope but is much lower elsewhere. South Georgia's geology consists of folded metamorphosed slates, silts and graywackes with occasional thin limestones. A few igneous intrusions occur on the south and southeast coasts. The Clerke Rocks, a group of approximately 15 islets 75 km southeast of Cooper Island, are composed of granites. The climate is cloudy, cold and windy with little variation throught the year.