The islands were roughly charted by Discovery Investigations personnel in 1927.

The name, derived from the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet, appears to have been first used on a 1946 Argentine government chart following surveys of the Melchior Islands by Argentine expeditions in 1942 and 1943.

[1] This article incorporates public domain material from "Theta Islands".

United States Geological Survey.

This Palmer Archipelago location article is a stub.