Juan Fernández Islands
Juan Fernández Islands
Archipiélago Juan Fernández | |
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Special Territory and Commune | |
Peso (CLP) | |
Website | Juan Fernández Islands |
The Juan Fernández Islands (
The islands are primarily known for having been the home to the marooned sailor Alexander Selkirk for more than four years from 1704, which may have inspired English writer Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe.[6] Most of the archipelago's present-day inhabitants reside on Robinson Crusoe Island, and mainly in the capital, San Juan Bautista, located at Cumberland Bay on the island's north coast.[7]
The group of islands is part of Chile's Valparaíso Region (which also includes Easter Island) and, along with the Desventuradas Islands, forms one of the nine communes of Valparaíso Province. The islands are named after Juan Fernández, the explorer who discovered them in the 1570s.
Geography
- Robinson Crusoe Island (33°38′00″S 78°51′00″W / 33.63333°S 78.85000°W), also known as Isla Más a Tierra, is located closest to the mainland of continental South America, and is surrounded by a number of islets, including Juanango, Viñilla, Los Chamelos, Los Claveles and El Verdugo.
- Santa Clara (33°42′07″S 79°00′05″W / 33.70194°S 79.00139°W), lying 1 km (0.6 mi) southwest of Robinson Crusoe.
- Alejandro Selkirk Island (33°46′00″S 80°47′00″W / 33.76667°S 80.78333°W), also known as Isla Más Afuera, is located 180 km (112 mi) further west.
Alejandro Selkirk is the largest of the Juan Fernández Islands at 49.5 km2 (19.1 sq mi), and its highest peak, Cerro de Los Inocentes, is also the highest point of the archipelago at 1,268 m (4,160 ft). The island's population was 57 in 2012. Robinson Crusoe is the second largest island in the archipelago at 47.9 km2 (18 sq mi); its highest peak, El Yunque, is 915 m (3,002 ft). The population of Robinson Crusoe was 843 in 2012. Santa Clara is 2.2 km2 (0.8 sq mi) in area and reaches a height of 375 m (1,230 ft). Santa Clara is uninhabited.[8] The maximum elevations of Juan Fernández, 915 m (3,002 ft) for Robinson Crusoe and 1,329 m (4,360 ft) for Alejandro Selkirk, respectively, are high enough to cause the phenomenon known as Kármán vortex street, which can be seen from space.
The islands are volcanic in origin, produced by the movement of the Nazca Plate over the Juan Fernández hotspot. As the plate moved eastward over the hot spot, volcanic eruptions formed the Juan Fernández Ridge before being subducted under the South American continent at the Peru–Chile Trench. The islands occur where the peaks of the submarine ridge have protruded above sea level. Radiometric dating indicates that Santa Clara is the oldest of the islands, at 5.8 million years old, followed by Robinson Crusoe, 3.8 – 4.2 million years old, and Alexander Selkirk, 1.0 – 2.4 million years old.
The seafloor around Juan Fernández Islands is rich in
Some consider the islands to be one of the easternmost points of Oceania, rather than an outlying region of South America.[10][11] In their book Shore Fishes of Easter Island, authors John E. Randall and Alfredo Cea Egana claim that the Juan Fernández Islands have "great similarity in ichthyofauna with Oceania more so than with the nearing South America."[12]
Climate
The islands have a subtropical climate with mediterranean influence (Cfa).[13] moderated by the cold Humboldt Current, which flows northward to the east of the islands, and the southeast trade winds. Temperatures range from 10 °C (50 °F) to 25 °C (77 °F), with an annual mean of 15.7 °C (60 °F). Higher elevations are generally cooler, with occasional frosts on Robinson Crusoe.
Average annual precipitation is 1,092.8 mm (43.0 in), varying from 318 mm (12.5 in) to 1,698 mm (66.9 in) year to year. Much of the variability in rainfall depends on the
Climate data for Archipiélago Juan Fernández (1981-2010, extremas 1958-presente) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 28.8 (83.8) |
27.8 (82.0) |
27.0 (80.6) |
26.0 (78.8) |
24.8 (76.6) |
22.2 (72.0) |
22.6 (72.7) |
24.4 (75.9) |
21.8 (71.2) |
23.5 (74.3) |
25.2 (77.4) |
26.9 (80.4) |
28.8 (83.8) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 25.2 (77.4) |
23.1 (73.6) |
21.1 (70.0) |
19.3 (66.7) |
17.6 (63.7) |
16.2 (61.2) |
15.0 (59.0) |
14.8 (58.6) |
15.0 (59.0) |
16.0 (60.8) |
17.6 (63.7) |
20.8 (69.4) |
18.5 (65.3) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 22.1 (71.8) |
19.8 (67.6) |
18.1 (64.6) |
16.5 (61.7) |
15.0 (59.0) |
13.6 (56.5) |
12.5 (54.5) |
12.2 (54.0) |
12.3 (54.1) |
13.3 (55.9) |
14.8 (58.6) |
18.2 (64.8) |
15.7 (60.3) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 19.1 (66.4) |
16.6 (61.9) |
16.1 (61.0) |
14.6 (58.3) |
13.1 (55.6) |
11.8 (53.2) |
10.8 (51.4) |
10.4 (50.7) |
10.4 (50.7) |
11.3 (52.3) |
12.7 (54.9) |
15.7 (60.3) |
13.6 (56.5) |
Record low °C (°F) | 10.6 (51.1) |
4.2 (39.6) |
9.0 (48.2) |
4.2 (39.6) |
4.6 (40.3) |
4.8 (40.6) |
5.0 (41.0) |
3.0 (37.4) |
5.0 (41.0) |
6.2 (43.2) |
7.3 (45.1) |
9.2 (48.6) |
3.0 (37.4) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 42.5 (1.67) |
44.5 (1.75) |
60.3 (2.37) |
91.1 (3.59) |
160.8 (6.33) |
180.1 (7.09) |
160.2 (6.31) |
126.3 (4.97) |
87.7 (3.45) |
54.1 (2.13) |
45.1 (1.78) |
40.1 (1.58) |
1,092.8 (43.02) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 11 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 21 | 23 | 21 | 19 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 183 |
Average relative humidity (%)
|
73 | 73 | 73 | 77 | 78 | 78 | 79 | 77 | 77 | 76 | 74 | 73 | 76 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 248.0 | 209.1 | 158.1 | 123.0 | 108.5 | 99.0 | 93.0 | 105.4 | 147.0 | 204.6 | 249.0 | 260.4 | 2,005.1 |
Source: Dirección Meteorológica de Chile[14][15] |
Biota and ecology
This section needs additional citations for verification. (November 2011) |
The Juan Fernández islands are home to a high percentage of rare and
Flora
There are 209 native species of
Alejandro Selkirk is mostly covered with grassland from 0 to 400 m (1,300 ft), interspersed with wooded ravines (quebradas), home to dry forests of
Three endemic species dominate the tall and lower montane forests of the
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Map of Robinson Crusoe Island (including Santa Clara Island)
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Map of Alejandro Selkirk Island
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Map of both islands
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Satellite images of Juan Fernández Islands (Alejandro Selkirk Island, inset left)
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overview map
Fauna
The Juan Fernández Islands have a very limited fauna, with no native land
The endemic Juan-Fernandez spiny lobster (without claws) lives in the marine waters (Jasus frontalis). The Juan Fernández fur seal (Arctophoca philippii) also lives on the islands. This species was nearly exterminated in the sixteenth to nineteenth century, but it was rediscovered in 1965. A census in 1970 found about 750 fur seals living there. Only two were sighted on the Desventuradas Islands, located some 780 km (485 mi) to the north. The actual population of the Desventuradas may be higher, because the species tends to hide in sea caves. There seems to be a yearly population increase of 16–17 percent.
History
Prehistory
A 2008 report by archaeologists from the Australian National University states that, "a combination of palaeoecology and archaeology in the Juan Fernández Islands showed it was unlikely there had been human activity in the islands before Europeans arrived."[19] Ichthyologists Ingo Hahn and Uwe Römer wrote in 2002, "the geographically isolated Juan Fernández Islands were probably untouched by man until their discovery by European sailors in 1574. Polynesians did not reach further east than Easter Island and native Americans perhaps not west of the South American continent."[20]
Discovery
The
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the islands were used as a hideout for
During the maritime fur trade era of the early 19th century the islands were a source of fur seal skins, and the Juan Fernández fur seal was nearly driven to extinction. In his book Two Years Before the Mast (Chapter VII), Richard Henry Dana Jr. described the islands as he found them circa 1834. At this time the main island was being used as a penal colony. However, when Dr John Coulter visited it in the early 1840s, he reported the island deserted after the approximately 1000 convicts had risen up, killing the soldiers and Governor who had held them captive. The prisoners fled to mainland Chile, where "great numbers" were later hunted down and shot. The story appears in Coulter's book Adventures in the Pacific (1845).[24] In 1908, the islands were visited by the Swedish Magellanic Expedition and Carl Skottsberg is believed to have been the last to have seen the Santalum fernandezianum tree alive.
Late in 1914 the islands were the rendezvous for Admiral Maximilian von Spee's East Asia Squadron as he gathered his ships together before defeating the British under Admiral Christopher Cradock at the Battle of Coronel. Following the Royal Navy's win at the Battle of the Falkland Islands a month later, the only surviving German cruiser, SMS Dresden, was hunted down and cornered illegally at Más a Tierra early in 1915, although she was in Chilean territorial waters, where it was scuttled after a brief battle with British cruisers.[25]
In 1966 the Chilean government renamed Más Afuera as Alejandro Selkirk Island and Más a Tierra as Robinson Crusoe Island, in order to promote tourism. Incidentally, Selkirk never set foot on Más Afuera, only on Más a Tierra. On 30 July 2007, a constitutional reform gave the Juan Fernández Islands and Easter Island the status of "special territories" of Chile. Pending the enactment of a charter the archipelago will continue to be governed as a commune of the Valparaíso Region.[26]
On 27 February 2010, a tsunami following the 8.8 magnitude earthquake off Maule, Chile struck the islands causing at least 8 deaths.[27] Eleven people were reported as missing.[28] Some early reports described the tsunami as being 40 m (130 ft) high, but later reports measured it at 3 m (10 ft). Most of the town of San Juan Bautista on Robinson Crusoe Island was destroyed.[29][30][31]
Government
As a
Within the
Travel
The islands are served by
See also
- Endemic fauna of the Juan Fernández Islands
- Endemic flora of the Juan Fernández Islands
- Flora of the Juan Fernández Islands
References
- ^ "Isla Robinson Crusoe". Commune Juan Fernández (2010). Retrieved 8 August 2010.
- ^ a b c "Censos de poblacion y vivienda". Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas (2012). Retrieved 2 January 2013.
- ISBN 9789561117013
- ^ "Chile Time" Archived 11 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. World Time Zones (2007). Retrieved 5 May 2007.
- ^ "Chile Summer Time" Archived 11 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. World Time Zones (2007). Retrieved 5 May 2007.
- ISBN 978-046-50-7699-4.
- ^ The islands' area and population data retrieved from the 2012 census.
- ISBN 978-956-11-1701-3.
- S2CID 211550478.
- ^ Thomson, Lex; Doran, John; Clarke, Bronwyn (2018). Trees for life in Oceania: Conservation and utilisation of genetic diversity (PDF). Canberra, Australia: Australian Center for International Agricultural Research. p. 16. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
In a number of cases, human exploitation of certain high-value tree species, including sandalwoods and other highly prized timbers, has led to their extinction—such as the sandalwood species Santalum fernandezianum, in Juan Fernández Islands; and others to the brink of extinction, such S. boninensis in Ogasawara Islands, Japan; or is an ongoing threatening factor in the examples of S. yasi in Fiji and Tonga, Gyrinops spp. in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Intsia bijuga throughout the Pacific Islands.
- ISBN 978-2-88032-509-1.[page needed]
- ProQuest 920291064.
- ^ "Parque Nacional Archipiélago de Juan Fernández" Archived 23 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Corporacion Nacional Forestal de Chile (2010). Retrieved 27 May 2010.
- ^ "Temperatura Histórica de la Estación - Juan Fernández (330031)". Dirección Meteorológica de Chile. Archived from the original on 25 February 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
- ^ "Datos Normales y Promedios Históricos de la Estación - Juan Fernández (330031)". Dirección Meteorológica de Chile. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
- ^ "Gonzalez J. (2014). Phylogenetic position of the most endangered Chilean bird: the Masafuera Rayadito (Aphrastura masafuerae; Furnariidae). Tropical Conservation Science. 7:677–689" (PDF).
- ^ Hogan, C. Michael (2008) "Magellanic Penguin". Global Twitcher. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
- ^ "Islas Robinson Crusoe and Santa Clara". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
- JSTOR j.ctt24h8gp.20.
- ^ https://www.neotropicalbirdclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Cotinga-17-2002-66-72.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ Brand, Donald D. (1967). The Pacific Basin: A History of its Geographical Explorations. New York: The American Geographical Society. p. 127.
- ISBN 0-7735-2652-8.
- ISBN 0-86784-471-X
- ^ Coulter, John (1845). Adventures in the Pacific. W. Curry, jun. and company. pp. 32–33.
- ^ "El Crucero Alemán Dresden". Commune Juan Fernández (2010). Retrieved 8 August 2010.
- ^ "Chilean Law 20,193". National Congress of Chile (2007).
- ^ Harrell, Eben (2 March 2010). "Chile's President: Why Did Tsunami Warnings Fail?". Time Magazine. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
- ^ Gutierrez, Thelma (27 February 2010). "First Waves of Tsunami Arrive at Hawaii". CNN. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
- ^ Spinali, Gwen (27 February 2010). "40 Meter Tsunami Wave Smashes Juan Fernández Island". Hollywood Backstage. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
- ^ Unravelling the Chilean Tsunami Archived 5 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Times Online (1 March 2010). Retrieved 1 March 2010.
- ^ "Forty-Meter Tsunami Wave Hits Juan Fernández Island". Newsolio (27 February 2010). Retrieved 27 February 2010
External links
- Commune Juan Fernández official government website (in Spanish)
- "Images of the Juan Fernández Islands" by W. Schipper in Travel Images
- "Map of Chili" by S. Augustus Mitchell (1860) from the World Digital Library
- "Menaces et perspectives pour la préservation de la biodiversité de l'Archipel Juan Fernández (Chili)" by J. Vanhulst (2009) on preserving the islands' biodiversity (in French)
- The Natural history of Juan Fernandez and Easter Island By Skottsberg, Carl in three volumes from 1920 to 1956.