|
Galápagos Hotspot
The Galápagos hotspot is a volcanic hotspot in the East Pacific Ocean responsible for the creation of the Galápagos Islands as well as three major aseismic ridge systems, Carnegie, Cocos and Malpelo which are on two tectonic plates. The hotspot is located near the Equator on the Nazca Plate not far from the divergent plate boundary with the Cocos Plate. The tectonic setting of the hotspot is complicated by the Galapagos Triple Junction of the Nazca and Cocos plates with the Pacific Plate. The movement of the plates over the hotspot is determined not solely by the spreading along the ridge but also by the relative motion between the Pacific Plate and the Cocos and Nazca Plates. The hotspot is believed to be over 20 million years old and in that time there has been interaction between the hotspot, both of these plates, and the divergent plate boundary, at the Galapagos Spreading Centre. Lavas from the hotspot do not exhibit the homogeneous nature of many hotspots; instead the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Ekuatur Nunka''), is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Ecuador also includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about west of the mainland. The country's capital and largest city is Quito. The territories of modern-day Ecuador were once home to a variety of Indigenous groups that were gradually incorporated into the Inca Empire during the 15th century. The territory was colonized by Spain during the 16th century, achieving independence in 1820 as part of Gran Colombia, from which it emerged as its own sovereign state in 1830. The legacy of both empires is reflected in Ecuador's ethnically diverse population, with most of its mill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tectonic Plate
Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large tectonic plates which have been slowly moving since about 3.4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of ''continental drift'', an idea developed during the first decades of the 20th century. Plate tectonics came to be generally accepted by geoscientists after seafloor spreading was validated in the mid to late 1960s. Earth's lithosphere, which is the rigid outermost shell of the planet (the crust and upper mantle), is broken into seven or eight major plates (depending on how they are defined) and many minor plates or "platelets". Where the plates meet, their relative motion determines the type of plate boundary: '' convergent'', '' divergent'', or ''transform''. Earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic tren ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volcanoes Of The Galápagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands are an isolated set of volcanoes, consisting of shield volcanoes and lava plateaus, located west of Ecuador. They are driven by the Galápagos hotspot, and are between 4.2 million and 700,000 years of age. The largest island, Isabela, consists of six coalesced shield volcanoes, each delineated by a large summit caldera. Española, the oldest island, and Fernandina, the youngest, are also shield volcanoes, as are most of the other islands in the chain. The Galápagos Islands are perched on a large lava plateau known as the Galápagos Platform, which creates a shallow-water depth of at the base of the islands, which stretch over a -long diameter. Since Charles Darwin's famous visit to the islands in 1835, over 60 recorded eruptions have occurred in the islands, from six different shield volcanoes. Of the 21 emergent volcanoes, 13 are considered active. The Galápagos are geologically young for such a big chain, and the pattern of their rift zones follows ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Darwin Island
Darwin Island (Spanish: ''Isla Darwin'') is among the smallest in the Galápagos Archipelago with an area of just . It is named in honour of English scientist Charles Darwin. With no dry landing sites, Darwin Island's main attractions are found in the Pacific Ocean, which is teeming with a large variety of marine life. Although the island had been marked on maps and had initially been given the name Culpepper Island on Admiralty charts, the first landing on Darwin Island was not until 1964, by helicopter. The small detached group formed by Darwin Island and Wolf Island is sometimes referred to as Darwin and Wolf or Darwin-Wolf, formerly Culpepper and Wenman. Geology Darwin Island is the remains of an extinct volcano that reaches above sea level. It is situated north-west of the main Galápagos Island group on the Wolf-Darwin Lineament, which extends from the Galápagos Platform to the Galápagos Spreading Centre, a mid-ocean ridge separating the Nazca and Cocos tectonic p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolf Island
Wolf Island (Spanish: ''Isla Wolf'') or Wenman Island is a small island in the Galápagos Islands and was named after the German geologist Theodor Wolf, who also has the volcano Wolf on Isabela Island named after him. It has an area of and a maximum altitude of above sea level. The island is remote from the main island group and has no permanent population. The Galápagos National Park does not allow landing on the island; however, it is a popular diving location. The group formed by Darwin Island and Wolf was previously known as Culpepper and Wenman. Geology Wolf Island is the remains of an extinct volcano that reaches a maximum above sea level, it is situated north west of the main Galápagos Island group on the Wolf-Darwin Lineament that extends from the Galápagos Platform to the Galápagos Spreading Center, a mid ocean ridge separating the Nazca and Cocos tectonic plates. Like its near neighbour Darwin Island, Wolf Island is upstream of the magma plume, in terms of p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Floreana
Floreana Island (Spanish: ''Isla Floreana'') is an island of the Galápagos Islands. It was named after Juan José Flores, the first president of Ecuador, during whose administration the government of Ecuador took possession of the archipelago. It was previously called Charles Island (after King Charles II of England), and Santa María after one of the caravels of Columbus. The island has an area of . It was formed by volcanic eruption. The island's highest point is Cerro Pajas at , which is also the highest point of the volcano like most of the smaller islands of Galápagos. History Since the 19th century, whalers kept a wooden barrel at Post Office Bay, so that mail could be picked up and delivered to their destination by ships on their way home, mainly to Europe and the United States. Cards and letters are still placed in the barrel without any postage. Visitors sift through the letters and cards in order to deliver them by hand. Due to its relatively flat surface, supp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santa Fe Island
Santa Fe Island (Spanish: ''Isla Santa Fe''), also called Barrington Island after admiral Samuel Barrington, is a small island of which lies in the centre of the Galápagos archipelago, to the south-east of Santa Cruz Island. Visitor access is by a wet landing in Barrington Bay on the north-eastern side of the island. Environment Geologically, the island is one of the oldest of the archipelago; volcanic rocks of about 4 million years old have been found. The vegetation of the island is characterized by brush, palo santo trees and stands of a large subvariety of the Galápagos prickly pear cactus, ''Opuntia galapageia'' subvar. ''barringtonensis''. Santa Fe is home to two endemic species and two endemic subspecies: the Barrington land iguana (''Conolophus pallidus''), the Barrington leaf-toed gecko (''Phyllodactylus barringtonensis''), www.reptile-database.org. the Santa Fe marine iguana (''Amblyrhynchus cristatus trillmichi'') and the Santa Fe rice rat (''Aegialomys gal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Cristóbal Island
San Cristóbal Island ( es, Isla San Cristóbal) and named previously by the English as ''Chatham Island'', is the easternmost island in the Galápagos archipelago, as well as one of the oldest geologically. It is administratively part of San Cristóbal Canton, Ecuador. Its Spanish (and official Ecuadorian) name "San Cristóbal" comes from the patron saint of seafarers, St. Christopher. English speakers increasingly use that name in preference to the traditional English name of Chatham Island, derived from William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. History San Cristobal Island is composed of three or four fused volcanoes, all extinct. It is home to the oldest permanent settlement of the islands and is the island where Darwin first went ashore in 1835. A small lake called El Junco is the only source of fresh water in the islands. The availability of fresh water is what led to the early settlement of San Cristobal. A penal colony was built on San Cristóbal Island in 1880 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santa Cruz Island (Galápagos)
Santa Cruz Island () is one of the Galápagos Islands with an area of and a maximum altitude of . Situated in the center of the archipelago, Santa Cruz is the second largest island after Isabela. Its capital is Puerto Ayora, the most populated urban centre in the islands. On Santa Cruz, there are some small villages, whose inhabitants work in agriculture and cattle raising. The island is an oval-shaped, long and wide shield volcano. Its summit contains a shallow caldera that has been largely buried by youthful pit craters and cinder cones with well-preserved craters. The most recent eruptions may have occurred only a few thousand years ago with the effusion of sparsely vegetated lava flows from vents on the north flank and along the summit fissure. A gigantic lava tube measuring over long is a tourist attraction on the island. As a testimony to its volcanic history there are two big holes formed by the collapse of a magma chamber: Los Gemelos, or "The Twins". Named after t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santiago Island (Galápagos)
Santiago Island () is one of the Galápagos Islands. It is also known as San Salvador, named after the first island discovered by Columbus in the Caribbean Sea (see San Salvador Island), or as James Island. The island, which consists of two overlapping volcanoes, has an area of and a maximum altitude of , atop the northwestern shield volcano. The volcano in the island's southeast erupted along a linear fissure, and is much lower. The oldest lava flows on the island date back to 750,000 years ago. Geology Santiago Island was formed from a shield volcano eponymously named Santiago. The low, flat summits of the volcano allowed the low-viscosity lava to flow for large distances from the source vents. The volcanic origin of the island has led it to be dotted with holocene pyroclastic rock that can be found across the island. On the eastern and western sides of the island, tuff cones, formed from the rapid interaction of hot lava and water, are visible. The summit of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isabela Island (Ecuador)
Isabela Island may refer to: *Isabela Island (Galápagos) *Isabela Island (Philippines) Isabel Island is an inhabited island in the province of Romblon in the Philippines. It is part of barangay Nasunogan in the municipality of Banton. In the 1918 census, the island together with its sister island Carlota Island constituted one sing ... See also * Isabel Island (other) {{geodis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fernandina Island
Fernandina Island (Spanish: ''Isla Fernandina'', named after King Ferdinand of Spain, the sponsor of Christopher Columbus) (formerly known in English as Narborough Island, after John Narborough) is the third largest, and youngest, island of the Galápagos Islands, as well as the furthest west. Like the others, the island was formed by the Galápagos hotspot. The island is an active shield volcano that has most recently been erupting since April 11, 2009. On February 14, 1825, while anchored in Banks Bay, Captain Benjamin Morrell recorded one of the largest eruptions in Galápagos' history at Fernandina Volcano. His ship escaped to safety and his account of the event was preserved. Fernandina has an area of and a height of , with a summit caldera about wide. The caldera underwent a collapse in 1968, when parts of the caldera floor dropped . A small lake has intermittently occupied the northern caldera floor, most recently in 1988. Due to its recent volcanic activity, the islan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
