Santiago Island is one of the

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands () are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the equator, west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with a population of sli ...

. The island, which consists of two overlapping volcanoes, has an area of and a maximum altitude of , atop the northwestern

shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more viscous lava ...

. 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.

Names

The original

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

name was San Marcos Island ( or ), honoring Saint Mark the Evangelist. In 1892, as part of Ecuador's celebration of the quadricentennial of Columbus's first voyage, it was renamed Salvador or San Salvador Island () after the first island Columbus reached. Isabela and Fernandina were similarly renamed for the third and fourth islands. The present name ''Santiago'' () is the

name of Saint James and a major center of pilgrimage in northern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. In English, the island has also been known as Duke of York's Island, King James's Island, and James Island, all in honor of King JamesII of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and Ireland and VII of Scotland. The name was originally bestowed by the pirate William Ambrosia Cowley in 1684 and altered in 1685 after James's

coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...

. Cowley had similarly named

Floreana Island Floreana Island () is a southern island in Ecuador's Galápagos Archipelago. 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 ...

King Charles's Island after CharlesII.

Geology

Santiago Island is one of the islands in the Galapagos Archipelago. It was formed from a

eponymously named Santiago. The oldest lava flows on the island date back to 750,000 years ago. The low, flat summits of the volcano allowed the low-

viscosity Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's rate-dependent drag (physics), resistance to a change in shape or to movement of its neighboring portions relative to one another. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of ''thickness''; for e ...

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...

to flow for large distances from the source vents. The volcanic origin of the island has led it to be dotted with

holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...

pyroclastic rock Pyroclastic rocks are clastic rocks composed of rock fragments produced and ejected by explosive volcanic eruptions. The individual rock fragments are known as pyroclasts. Pyroclastic rocks are a type of volcaniclastic deposit, which are deposit ...

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 volcano is on the northwestern part of the island and the last recorded volcanic activity on Santiago Island was between 1904 and 1906.

Wildlife

Like the other islands of the Galápagos archipelago, Santiago Island is rife with wildlife, particularly species

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the Galápagos. Some animals commonly seen on the island include the

Galápagos fur seal The Galápagos fur seal (''Arctocephalus galapagoensis'') is one of eight seals in the genus '' Arctocephalus''. It is the smallest of all eared seals. It is endemic to the Galápagos Islands in the eastern Pacific. The total estimated population ...

, Galápagos sea lion, Sally Lightfoot crab,

marine iguana The marine iguana (''Amblyrhynchus cristatus''), also known as the sea iguana, saltwater iguana, or Galápagos marine iguana, is a species of Iguanidae, iguana found only on the Galápagos Islands (Ecuador). Unique among modern lizards, it is a m ...

and Galápagos land iguana,

bottlenose dolphin The bottlenose dolphin is a toothed whale in the genus ''Tursiops''. They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus contains three species: the common bot ...

, rice rat, and

Microlophus ''Microlophus'' is a genus of tropidurid lizards native to South America. Around 20 species are recognized and 10 of these are endemic to the Galápagos Islands, where they are commonly known as lava lizards Benavides, Edgar; Baum, Rebecca; Sn ...

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

in October 1835 noted that the island's population of land iguanas was immense: "I cannot give a more forcible proof of their numbers than by stating that when we were left at James Island we could not for some time find a spot free from their burrows on which to pitch our single tent." On the plants and vegetation, Darwin observed, "As in the other islands, the lower region was covered by nearly leafless bushes, but the trees were here of larger growth than elsewhere. The upper region, being kept damp by the clouds, supports a green and flourishing vegetation."

Restoration

The Directorate of Galápagos National Park and Island Conservation reintroduced 1,436 Galápagos Land Iguanas (''Conolophus subcristatus'') to Santiago Island on 4 January 2019 after a 180-year absence. The partners reintroduced the land iguanas in an effort to restore the island's ecological health and to provide the opportunity for this iguana species to thrive. Land iguanas were sourced from North Seymour Island, where they were introduced in the 1930s and have increased to over 5,000 and faced a lack of food availability.

was the second-last person to record land iguanas alive on Santiago Island in 1835, with

Abel-Nicolas Bergasse du Petit-Thouars Abel-Nicolas Georges Henri Bergasse du Petit-Thouars (March 23, 1832 – March 14, 1890) was a French Navy officer who took part in the Crimean War, the Boshin War, the Franco-Prussian War and the War of the Pacific. He is considered a hero in Pe ...

being the last in 1838.

Gallery

File:Tuff Cone on Santiago Island in the Galápagos.png, Tuff cone on the east side of the island File:Hardened Magma on Santiago Island Galápagos.png, Cracked hardened lava flow on the island File:Panorama of the Eastern Side of Santiago Island, Galápagos.png, Panorama of the east side (Note the older sand & vegetation in the background and newer hardened lava in the foreground) File:Land Iguana Basking in the Sun on Santiago Island Galápagos.jpg, Land Iguana basking in the sun File:Galápagos Sea Lion Napping on Santiago Island.jpg, Galápagos Sea Lion napping between hardened lava formations File:Sally Lightfoot Crab on Santiago Island, Galápagos.jpg, Sally Lightfoot Crab (Grapsus Grapsus) on Santiago

References

Citations

Bibliography

* .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Santiago Island (Galapagos) Islands of the Galápagos Islands Volcanoes of the Galápagos Islands Shield volcanoes of Ecuador Polygenetic shield volcanoes Pleistocene shield volcanoes Holocene shield volcanoes