is a

volcanic A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...

desert island An uninhabited island, desert island, or deserted island, is an island, islet or atoll which lacks permanent human population. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereotypes ...

located in the

Philippine Sea The Philippine Sea is a List of seas#Marginal seas by ocean, marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, Western Pacific Ocean east of the list of islands of the Philippines, Philippine Archipelago (hence the name) and the List of seas#Largest seas ...

approximately south off the coast of

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, at the southernmost tip of the Izu archipelago,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Though only 0.01 km² in area, it reaches almost 100 meters in height.

Geography

The island is a

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

pillar with sheer sides, the only visible portion of a submarine volcanic caldera extending south-east at an average depth of . The above sea-level portion measures approximately 84 metres east-west and 56 metres north-south, with a summit height of . The sides of the island features several geological joints facing the water's surface. The island lies approximately south off the coast of

and from the nearby uninhabited island of Torishima. Due to its shape and heavy seas, it is almost impossible to disembark on the island, although attempts have been made by rock climbers successfully in 1972 and 2003 (though several accidents have been registered). A scientific expedition visited the island in 2017 along with an

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

film crew. The expedition was featured in an episode of the documentary series NHK Documentary, which aired in February 2019. The site is also known for the transparency of its surrounding waters and abundance of

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

, which makes it a popular

scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

spot. The only vegetation on the island is a few clumps of

Poaceae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivate ...

, and the island attracts a small number of

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...

s for nesting. Bird guano makes white streaks on the rock.

History

On April 9, 1788, British merchant sailor John Meares sighted what he came to describe as “the most marvellous thing” he had ever set his eyes on, a small island he and the ship’s crew decided to baptize as Lot's Wife, referring to the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...

19:26. The Japanese name Sōfu Iwa (“The Widow Crag”) is rather freely translated from English. During the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

, Sofu Gan was used by US Navy submariners as a reference marker for calibration of instruments as they entered Japanese waters.O'Kane, Richard H. ''Clear the Bridge! The War Patrols of the USS Tang'' London Macdonald & Jane's 1978 p.210 The uninhabited and uninhabitable island was the southernmost Japanese island not occupied by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

after the 1952 San Francisco Treaty. It is currently administratively part of Tokyo Metropolis.

References

External links

Sofugan: Japan Coast Guard submarine volcano database
* - Japan Meteorological Agency {{DEFAULTSORT:Lot's Wife (Crag) Izu Islands Uninhabited islands of Japan Extinct volcanoes of Asia Stacks of Japan Islands of Tokyo Lot (biblical person)

Geography

History

See also

References

External links