Misplaced Pages

#913086

38-487: Small coral atolls or islands usually have no source of fresh water , but occasionally a freshwater lens can be reached with a well. Uninhabited islands are sometimes also called "deserted islands" or "desert islands". In the latter, the adjective desert connotes not desert climate conditions, but rather "desolate and sparsely occupied or unoccupied". The word desert has been "formerly applied more widely to any wild, uninhabited region, including forest-land", and it

76-622: A Scottish sailor named Alexander Selkirk , who was rescued in 1709 after four years on the otherwise uninhabited Juan Fernández Islands ; Defoe usually made use of current events for his plots. It is also likely that he was inspired by the Latin or English translations of Ibn Tufail's Hayy ibn Yaqdhan . Noel Paul Stookey sang a song about living on a desert island called "On a Desert Island (With You in My Dreams)" on Peter, Paul & Mary 's 1965 album: " See What Tomorrow Brings ". Tom Neale

114-508: A reef knoll refers to the elevated remains of an ancient atoll within a limestone region, appearing as a hill. The second largest atoll by dry land area is Aldabra , with 155 km (60 sq mi). Huvadhu Atoll , situated in the southern region of the Maldives, holds the distinction of being the largest atoll based on the sheer number of islands it comprises, with a total of 255 individual islands. In 1842, Charles Darwin explained

152-413: A "circular group of coral islets", synonymously with "lagoon-island". More modern definitions of atoll describe them as "annular reefs enclosing a lagoon in which there are no promontories other than reefs and islets composed of reef detritus " or "in an exclusively morphological sense, [as] a ring-shaped ribbon reef enclosing a lagoon". There are approximately 440 atolls in the world. Most of

190-401: A coral fringing reef has formed. Over geologic time, the volcanic island becomes extinct and eroded as it subsides completely beneath the surface of the ocean. As the volcanic island subsides, the coral fringing reef becomes a barrier reef that is detached from the island. Eventually, reef and the small coral islets on top of it are all that is left of the original island, and a lagoon has taken

228-526: A few survivors stranded on the island cannot expect rescue and must rely on their own resources - embarking on a grim life-and-death struggle. The top "dream vacation" for heterosexual men surveyed by Psychology Today was "marooned on a tropical island with several members of the opposite sex". In 1820, the crew of the British whaler Essex spent time on uninhabited British Henderson Island . There they gorged on birds, fish, and vegetation and found

266-615: A few yards across with a single palm tree (probably due to the visual constraints of the medium). 17 such cartoons appeared in The New Yorker in 1957 alone. A special variation of the desert island theme appears in H.G.Wells's The War in the Air . As part of the cataclysmic global war depicted, the bridges linking Goat Island in the middle of the Niagara Falls to the mainland are cut, and with civilization fast breaking down

304-534: A new society. This society can either be utopian , based on an ingenious re-creation of society's comforts (as in Swiss Family Robinson and, in a humorous form, Gilligan's Island ) or a regression into savagery (the major theme of both Lord of the Flies and The Beach ). Desert island jokes are also a hugely popular image for gag cartoons , the island being conventionally depicted as just

342-649: A small freshwater spring. After one week, they had depleted the island's resources and most of the crew left on three whaleboats , while three of the men decided to remain on the island and survived there for four months until their rescue. Survivors of the British Strathmore survived for 7 months at a small island of the French Crozet Islands from 1875 to 1876. They survived from eating eggs and flesh of geese, albatrosses and other seabirds. The also ate root vegetables and fish. The survival

380-442: A very different origin of formation. In most cases, the land area of an atoll is very small in comparison to the total area. Atoll islands are low lying, with their elevations less than 5 metres (16 ft). Measured by total area, Lifou (1,146 km , 442 sq mi) is the largest raised coral atoll of the world, followed by Rennell Island (660 km , 250 sq mi). More sources, however, list Kiritimati as

418-525: A volcanic island in the tropical sea will grow upward as the island subsides (sinks), becoming an "almost atoll", or barrier reef island, as typified by an island such as Aitutaki in the Cook Islands, and Bora Bora and others in the Society Islands. The fringing reef becomes a barrier reef for the reason that the outer part of the reef maintains itself near sea level through biotic growth, while

SECTION 10

#1732783468914

456-405: Is the development of a flat top, mound-like coral reef during the subsidence of an oceanic island of either volcanic or nonvolcanic origin below sea level. Then, when relative sea level drops below the level of the flat surface of coral reef, it is exposed to the atmosphere as a flat topped island which is dissolved by rainfall to form limestone karst . Because of hydrologic properties of this karst,

494-562: Is the freezing climate. The first known novels to be set on a desert island were Hayy ibn Yaqdhan written by Ibn Tufail (1105–1185), followed by Theologus Autodidactus written by Ibn al-Nafis (1213–1288). The protagonists in both (Hayy in Hayy ibn Yaqdhan and Kamil in Theologus Autodidactus ) are feral children living in seclusion on a deserted island, until they eventually come in contact with castaways from

532-595: Is this archaic meaning that appears in the phrase "desert island". The term "desert island" is also commonly used figuratively to refer to objects or behavior in conditions of social isolation and limited material means. Behavior on a desert island is a common thought experiment , for example, "desert island morality". Desert islands are partly sheltered from humans, making them havens for a number of fragile wildlife species such as sea turtles and ground-nesting seabirds . Many species of seabirds use them as stopovers on their way or especially for nesting, taking advantage of

570-606: The Royal Society of London carried out drilling on Funafuti atoll in Tuvalu for the purpose of investigating the formation of coral reefs . They wanted to determine whether traces of shallow water organisms could be found at depth in the coral of Pacific atolls. This investigation followed the work on the structure and distribution of coral reefs conducted by Charles Darwin in the Pacific. The first expedition in 1896

608-664: The Thousand Islands , Taka Bonerate Islands , and atolls in the Raja Ampat Islands . The Atlantic Ocean has no large groups of atolls, other than eight atolls east of Nicaragua that belong to the Colombian department of San Andres and Providencia in the Caribbean. Reef-building corals will thrive only in warm tropical and subtropical waters of oceans and seas, and therefore atolls are found only in

646-484: The (supposed) absence of terrestrial predators such as cats or rats . However, tons of waste from far away countries accumulate on their beaches from the sea, and the absence of surveillance also makes them desirable spots for poachers of protected species. Most of the largest uninhabited islands are many kilometers/miles inside the Arctic or Antarctic circles, indicating that the reason for their desertedness

684-519: The Equator is Aranuka of Kiribati. Its southern tip is just 13 km (8 mi) north of the Equator. Bermuda is sometimes claimed as the "northernmost atoll" at a latitude of 32°18′ N. At this latitude, coral reefs would not develop without the warming waters of the Gulf Stream . However, Bermuda is termed a pseudo-atoll because its general form, while resembling that of an atoll, has

722-520: The antecedent karst model as they found that the morphology of modern atolls are independent of any influence of an underlying submerged and buried island and are not rooted to an initial fringing reef/barrier reef attached to a slowly subsiding volcanic edifice. In fact, the Neogene reefs underlying the studied modern atolls overlie and completely bury the subsided island are all non-atoll, flat-topped reefs. In fact, they found that atolls did not form doing

760-417: The creation of coral atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean based upon observations made during a five-year voyage aboard HMS Beagle from 1831 to 1836. Darwin's explanation suggests that several tropical island types: from high volcanic island, through barrier reef island, to atoll, represented a sequence of gradual subsidence of what started as an oceanic volcano. He reasoned that a fringing coral reef surrounding

798-436: The direct result of the interaction between subsidence and preferential karst dissolution that occurred in the interior of flat topped coral reefs during exposure during glacial lowstands of sea level. The elevated rims along an island created by this preferential karst dissolution become the sites of coral growth and islands of atolls when flooded during interglacial highstands. The research of A. W. Droxler and others supports

SECTION 20

#1732783468914

836-561: The dolomitization of calcite and aragonite within them. They are the evaporative, seepage-reflux, mixing-zone, burial, and seawater models. Although the origin of replacement dolomites remains problematic and controversial, it is generally accepted that seawater was the source of magnesium for dolomitization and the fluid in which calcite was dolomitized to form the dolomites found within atolls. Various processes have been invoked to drive large amounts of seawater through an atoll in order for dolomitization to occur. In 1896, 1897 and 1898,

874-472: The inner part of the reef falls behind, becoming a lagoon because conditions are less favorable for the coral and calcareous algae responsible for most reef growth. In time, subsidence carries the old volcano below the ocean surface and the barrier reef remains. At this point, the island has become an atoll. As formulated by J. E. Hoffmeister, F. S. McNeil, E. G. Prudy, and others, the antecedent karst model argues that atolls are Pleistocene features that are

912-521: The island. A Latin translation of Ibn Tufail's Hayy ibn Yaqdhan appeared in 1671, prepared by Edward Pococke the Younger, followed by an English translation by Simon Ockley in 1708, as well as German and Dutch translations. In the late 17th century, Hayy ibn Yaqdhan inspired Robert Boyle , an acquaintance of Pococke, to write his own philosophical novel set on a deserted island, The Aspiring Naturalist . Ibn al-Nafis' Theologus Autodidactus

950-535: The lagoon within them. The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu ( އަތޮޅު , pronounced [ˈat̪oɭu] ). Dhivehi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Maldives . The word's first recorded English use was in 1625 as atollon . Charles Darwin coined the term in his monograph, The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs . He recognized the word's indigenous origin and defined it as

988-412: The largest atoll in the world in terms of land area. It is also a raised coral atoll (321 km , 124 sq mi land area; according to other sources even 575 km , 222 sq mi), 160 km (62 sq mi) main lagoon, 168 km (65 sq mi) other lagoons (according to other sources 319 km , 123 sq mi total lagoon size). The geological formation known as

1026-471: The oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most of the approximately 440 atolls in the world are in the Pacific Ocean . Two different, well-cited models, the subsidence model and the antecedent karst model, have been used to explain the development of atolls. According to Charles Darwin 's subsidence model, the formation of an atoll is explained by the sinking of a volcanic island around which

1064-554: The outside world who are stranded on the island. The story of Theologus Autodidactus , however, extends beyond the deserted island setting when the castaways take Kamil back to civilization with them. William Shakespeare 's 1610–11 play, The Tempest , uses the idea of being stranded on a desert island as a pretext for the action of the play. Prospero and his daughter Miranda are set adrift by Prospero's treacherous brother Antonio, seeking to become Duke of Milan , and Prospero in turn shipwrecks his brother and other men of sin onto

1102-422: The place of the former volcano. The lagoon is not the former volcanic crater. For the atoll to persist, the coral reef must be maintained at the sea surface, with coral growth matching any relative change in sea level (sinking of the island or rising oceans). An alternative model for the origin of atolls is called the antecedent karst model. In the antecedent karst model, the first step in the formation of an atoll

1140-401: The rate of dissolution of the exposed coral is lowest along its rim and the rate of dissolution increases inward to its maximum at the center of the island. As a result, a saucer shaped island with a raised rim forms. When relative sea level submerges the island again, the rim provides a rocky core on which coral grow again to form the islands of an atoll and the flooded bottom of the saucer forms

1178-478: The subsidence of an island until MIS-11, Mid-Brunhes, long after the many the former islands had been completely submerged and buried by flat topped reefs during the Neogene. Atolls are the product of the growth of tropical marine organisms, and so these islands are found only in warm tropical waters. Volcanic islands located beyond the warm water temperature requirements of hermatypic (reef-building) organisms become seamounts as they subside, and are eroded away at

Uninhabited island - Misplaced Pages Continue

1216-696: The surface. An island that is located where the ocean water temperatures are just sufficiently warm for upward reef growth to keep pace with the rate of subsidence is said to be at the Darwin Point . Islands in colder, more polar regions evolve toward seamounts or guyots ; warmer, more equatorial islands evolve toward atolls, for example Kure Atoll . However, ancient atolls during the Mesozoic appear to exhibit different growth and evolution patterns. Coral atolls are important as sites where dolomitization of calcite occurs. Several models have been proposed for

1254-756: The tropics and subtropics. The northernmost atoll in the world is Kure Atoll at 28°25′ N, along with other atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands . The southernmost atolls in the world are Elizabeth Reef at 29°57′ S, and nearby Middleton Reef at 29°27′ S, in the Tasman Sea , both of which are part of the Coral Sea Islands Territory. The next southerly atoll is Ducie Island in the Pitcairn Islands Group, at 24°41′ S. The atoll closest to

1292-942: The world's atolls are in the Pacific Ocean (with concentrations in the Caroline Islands , the Coral Sea Islands , the Marshall Islands , the Tuamotu Islands , Kiribati , Tokelau , and Tuvalu ) and the Indian Ocean (the Chagos Archipelago , Lakshadweep , the atolls of the Maldives , and the Outer Islands of Seychelles ). In addition, Indonesia also has several atolls spread across the archipelago, such as in

1330-642: Was a New Zealander who voluntarily spent 16 years in three sessions in the 1950s and 1960s living alone on the island of Suwarrow in the Northern Cook Islands group. His time there is documented in his autobiography, An Island To Oneself . In the popular conception, such islands are often located in the Pacific , tropical , uninhabited and usually uncharted. They are remote locales that offer escape and force people marooned or stranded as castaways to become self-sufficient and essentially create

1368-409: Was also eventually translated into English in the early 20th century. Published in 1719, Daniel Defoe 's novel Robinson Crusoe , about a castaway on a desert island, has spawned so many imitations in film, television and radio that its name was used to define a genre, Robinsonade . The novel features Man Friday , Crusoe's personal assistant. It is likely that Defoe took inspiration for Crusoe from

1406-568: Was led by Professor William Johnson Sollas of the University of Oxford . Geologists included Walter George Woolnough and Edgeworth David of the University of Sydney . Professor Edgeworth David led the expedition in 1897. The third expedition in 1898 was led by Alfred Edmund Finckh. Noel Paul Stookey Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include

1444-575: Was the input for among others the book Survival on the Crozet Islands: The Wreck of the Strathmore in 1875 . Atolls An atoll ( / ˈ æ t . ɒ l , - ɔː l , - oʊ l , ə ˈ t ɒ l , - ˈ t ɔː l , - ˈ t oʊ l / ) is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon . There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of

#913086