Isla Salas y Gómez
Native name: Motu Motiro Hiva | |
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Isla Salas y Gómez[1] (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈisla ˈsalas i ˈɣomes]), also known as Isla Sala y Gómez (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈisla ˈsalaj ˈɣomes]; Rapa Nui: Motu Motiro Hiva), is a small uninhabited Chilean island in the Pacific Ocean. It is sometimes considered the easternmost point in the Polynesian Triangle.[2][3]
Isla Salas y Gómez and its surrounding waters are a
Geography
Isla Salas y Gómez is located 3,210 km west of the Chilean mainland, 2,490 km west of Chile's
The island is showered with
There are no permanent sources of fresh water on the island, but there is an intermittent rainwater pool in a depression on the eastern rock, which often forms a cache of fresh water 75 meters in diameter. This is essential for the survival of the large population of seabirds.[6]
Even when this area appears dry at the surface, the sand is still moist just a few inches below the surface. This flat sandy area is also the only place on the island suitable for landing helicopters.[citation needed]
In 1994, the Chilean Navy installed an automated beacon and a tsunami warning system. The island has since been declared a nature sanctuary.[7]
History
Name
The Rapa Nui name for the island is Motu Motiro Hiva or Manu Motu Motiro Hiva, meaning (Bird's) Islet on the way to Hiva. Hiva is part of the names of several Polynesian islands, particularly in the Marquesas Islands. In the Rapa Nui language, however, it means "far off lands" and is the name for the mythical original homeland of the Polynesians. From Easter Island, Salas y Gómez is almost the opposite direction to the Marquesas, and the next inhabited territory "behind" Salas y Gómez would be the coast of South America. This was one of the factors that led Thor Heyerdahl to theorize that there was pre-European contact between Polynesia and South America.
The current name, Salas y Gómez, is derived from the name of Spaniards José Salas Valdés and José Manuel Gómez, who made the first detailed description of the island, following a visit beginning 18 October 1805. The island is sometimes also referred to as Isla Sala y Gómez, with "Sala" being a misunderstanding of Salas.[8]
Human visitation
Although there is no evidence that the island has ever been permanently inhabited, Easter Islanders were certainly aware of its existence, as indicated by the pre-
The first European to sight the island was
Political situation
Salas y Gómez was claimed by Chile in 1888, and was administered by the Chilean Navy. Beginning 1 March 1966, the island was included in the
Marine Protected Area
On October 6, 2010, President
During the 2008
This declaration follows the efforts of
Geology
Salas y Gómez is a volcanic island consisting of the summit of a large mountain which rises about 3500 metres from the sea bed. Scott Reef (not to be confused with Scott Reefs off Western Australia), 1.5 km further northeast, is another peak of the same mostly submarine mountain, and has a least depth of 25 meters above it. Salas y Gómez is part of the same Salas y Gómez Ridge as Easter Island to the west, these two locations being the only places where the otherwise submarine mountain range extends above sea level. There are several dozen more seamounts in the range, which extends 2232 km eastward until Nazca Seamount at 23°36′S 83°30′W / 23.600°S 83.500°W, where it joins the Nazca Ridge.[20]
Salas y Gómez is the fourth youngest mountain in the chain, which is being formed by the Nazca Plate floating over the Easter hotspot. The two youngest mountains in the chain, Pukao and Moai, are seamounts to the west of Easter Island.[21][22]
Flora
Salas y Gómez and Easter Island form a distinct
Fauna
Besides a number of insect species[, with the estimated number of adult birds in 1985:
Species (Polynesian name) | Scientific Name | Adult birds in 1985 |
---|---|---|
Christmas shearwater | Puffinus nativitatis | 5,000 |
Masked booby (Manukena) | Sula dactylatra | 3,000 |
Brown noddy | Anous stolidus | 1,400 |
Great frigatebird (Makohe) | Fregata minor | 700 |
Sooty tern | Onychoprion fuscata | 200 |
Blue noddy | Procelsterna cerulea | 80 |
Red-tailed tropicbird (Tevake) | Phaëthon rubricauda | 30 |
Polynesian (white-throated) storm petrel | Nesofregetta fuliginosa | 2 |
White tern | Gygis alba | 2 |
Red-footed booby | Sula sula | 2 |
Black noddy | Anous minutus | 2 |
Grey noddy | Procelsterna albivitta | 1 |
Those numbers may vary considerably from year to year, due to weather conditions, and it has been observed that the overall numbers were much lower in 1986.
Marine fauna includes a large number of
Cultural references
Charles Stephenson's book The Face of OO features the island, and the submerged rocks around it, heavily.[24]
Alan Dean Foster referred to the island in his 1971 Cthulhu mythos short story "Some Notes Concerning a Green Box".[25]
Although only passing Salas y Gomez in 1816 and not going ashore,[26] the German poet Adelbert von Chamisso wrote a poem based on his reflections upon the island.[27]
See also
Media related to Category:Sala y Gómez at Wikimedia Commons
- Desert island
- San Félix y San Ambrosio
- Juan Fernández Islands
References
- ^ Chile: Ciudades, Pueblos, Aldeas y Caseríos 2005, Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas – June 2005.
- ISSN 0308-597X.
- ^ S2CID 219175550.
- Marine Protected Area.
- ^ Lauren De Vos (June 2017). "Science at the far end of the world". Save Our Seas. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ "Moais Mythology & Castaways: Easter Island to Valparaiso". Luxury cruise & more. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ Marine Protected Area
- ^ Revista Española del Pacífico No. 2, 1992 Archived 2005-12-10 at the Wayback Machine. From the Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes.
- ^ Te Rapa Nui (The Gazette of Easter Island) Archived 2005-05-17 at the Wayback Machine Vol. 4 No. 8, Summer/Fall 1999
- ^ Brand, Donald D. The Pacific Basin: A History of its Geographical Explorations The American Geographical Society, New York, 1967, p.139.
- ^ The Islands Archived 2005-03-30 at the Wayback Machine from notes on the Cordell Expeditions. Aug. 1995
- ^ Chilian history page Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine outlining history of Rapa Nui province
- ^ "La plataforma continental extendida en isla de Pascua y Salas y Gómez". Revista Marina. October 27, 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
- ^ Gobierno de Chile, Parque Marino Motu Motiro Hiva. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
- ^ Handbook – 4th International Symposium on Deepsea Coral Archived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Machine, 4th ISDSC.
- ^ Fondo Mundial para la Naturaleza, WWF Chile.
- ^ Galvez, M. 2009. Seamounts of Nazca and Salas y Gómez: a review for management and conservation purposes Archived 2012-01-19 at the Wayback Machine, Lat. Am. J. Aquat. Res., 37(3): 479–500.
- ^ Informe Técnico (R.Pesq.) 81/2010 de agosto 2010. Subsecretaría de Pesca., Fundamentos para establecer el Parque Marino Salas y Gómez.
- Marine Protected Area
- ^ Radiometric Ages for Seamounts from the Easter-Salas y Gomez-Nazca Hotspot Track from Smithsonian/NASA ADS Physics Abstract Service. Duncan, R.A., et al.
- ^ Preliminary Multibeam Mapping and Dredging Results along the Nazca Ridge and Easter/Salas y Gomez Chain from the 2002 Ocean Sciences Meeting
- ^ The Petrogenetic Evolution of Lavas from Easter Island and Neighbouring Seamounts, Near-ridge Hotspot Volcanoes in theSE Pacific
- .
- ^ The Face of OO. FeedARead. 6 June 2013.
- ^ Foster, Alan Dean, "Some Notes Concerning a Green Box" (1971) https://www.scribd.com/document/143192061/Alan-Dean-Foster-Some-Notes-Concerning-a-Green-Box-Txt
- ^ "Wir sahen am 25. [März 1816] den nackten Felsen Salas y Gomez, 26°36'15" südlicher Breite, 105°34'28" westlicher Länge" [...] "Am Morgen des 25. verkündigten uns über dem Winde von Salas y Gomez Seevögel in großer Anzahl, Pelikane und Fregatten, diesen ihren Brüteplatz, an welchem wir mittags vorüberfuhren." Adelbert von Chamisso. Reise um die Welt. Projekt Gutenberg-DE. Retrieved May 30, 2021
- ^ Adelbert von Chamisso (1981) Gesammelte Werke (Collected works), Band 2 (Vol. 2), Leipzig, p. 291
Further reading
- González-Ferrán, Oscar (1995). Volcanes de Chile. Santiago, Chile: Instituto Geográfico Militar. ISBN 956-202-054-1. (in Spanish; also includes volcanoes of Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru)
External links
- National Monuments, Chilean government.
- document with sketch map
- https://web.archive.org/web/20050829152550/http://www.rapanui.co.cl/numero8/syg.htm
- https://web.archive.org/web/20051014224405/http://www.ecole-navale.fr/fr/irenav/cv/poupin/publis/Checklist_Easter_Poupin.pdf
- Adalbert von Chamisso's Salas y Gomez at Gutenberg (in German)
- Parque Marino Salas y Gómez, entry on BlooSee
- Isla o islote Salas y Gómez (spanish)