Sharp Island or Kiu Tsui Chau () is the largest island in the

Kiu Tsui Country Park Kiu Tsui Country Park () is a country park in Sai Kung District, Hong Kong. The park opened in 1979 and includes features such as: *Hap Mun Bay Beach () on Sharp Island *Kiu Tsui Beach () on Sharp Island The park has eight outlying islands with ...

located at Port Shelter of Sai Kung, Hong Kong. The area is most known for fishing, swimming as well as diving. Sharp Island is under the administration of

Sai Kung District Sai Kung District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China. The district comprises the southern half of the Sai Kung Peninsula, the Clear Water Bay Peninsula in the New Territories and a strip of lan ...

Geography

The island has a maximum elevation of 136m and an area of 1 km². The two beaches, Half Moon Bay Beach (, also known as Hap Mun Bay), and Kiu Tsui Beach () are located on the island. Both are managed by the Hong Kong Leisure and Cultural Services Department. When the predicted tides at Ko Lau Wan is lower than or equal to +1.40 meters, visitors are able to visit Kiu Tau (), an inshore islet, on foot. Different kind of volcanic rocks can be found on Sharp Island. The most frequent ones are rocks with a peculiar pattern on the surface. Other rocks have an unusual pineapple-shaped form.

History

Origin of the different kinds or rocks

It is believed that about 140 million years ago a volcano was located in Sai Kung. Sharp Island was on the margin of the

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

. This is probably the reason for the widely distributed different volcanic rocks from different geological periods around Sharp Island.

Formation of the tombolo

The sea currents near Sharp Island pushed sand and gravel near the shore. After several years they formed a tombolo, a natural bridge made of different sized rocks and sand – connecting Sharp Island and Kiu Tau (). At high tide the tombolo is submerged in water and thus can only be seen when the tide goes out.

Biodiversity

There are over 70% of

stony corals Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrical body crowned by an oral disc in which a mo ...

coverage around the island. An endangered flora

Tetrathyrium subcordatum ''Loropetalum'' is a genus of four species of shrubs or small trees in the witch-hazel family, Hamamelidaceae, native to China, Japan, and south-eastern Asia. Description Flowers are produced in clusters during spring and are similar to those o ...

is found on the south of the island.

Conservation

A small portion of Sharp Island is designated as the Sharp Island Special Area (). It covers 649 square metres and was designated in 2011. The area is located west of the pier at Kui Tsui Beach. The geology of the area is characterised by volcanic rocks of the Cretaceous period.

Transportation

Sharp Island is accessible by ferry from Sai Kung Town.

References

External links

Memories of volcanic lava flows － Sharp Island
{{coord, 22.36071, 114.29523, display=title Sai Kung District Islands of Hong Kong Volcanism of Hong Kong Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark Tombolos Uninhabited islands of Hong Kong