View source for Solander Islands

{{Short description|Three islets off the South Island of New Zealand}}
{{redirect|Solander Island|the island off the west coast of Canada|Solander Island Ecological Reserve}}
{{use New Zealand English|date=August 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox islands
| name             = Solander Islands / Hautere
| local_name       = [[Māori language|Māori]]: Hautere
| native_name      =
| image_name       =Solander Islands New Zealand geographic map en.svg
| image_caption    = Map of the Solander Islands
| image_size       =
| map_image        = {{maplink|frame=yes
|frame-align=right
|text=Map of the undersea Solander arc volcano edifice (brown). Clicking on the map enables panning and zooming. 
|raw={{Wikipedia:Map data/Macquarie Fault Zone}}
|frame-width=250
|frame-height=260
|frame-lat=-46.5
|frame-long=167.5
|icon=no
|zoom=7
}}
| map_caption      = 
| nickname         =
| location         = [[Southland District]]
| coordinates      = {{coord|46|34|S|166|53|E|display=title,inline}}
| archipelago      =
| total_islands    =
| major_islands    =
| area_km2         =
| area_ha          = 120
| length_km        = 1.6
| width_km         =
| highest_mount    = 
| elevation_m      = 330
| population       =
| population_as_of =
| density_km2      =
| ethnic_groups    =
| country          = New Zealand
| additional_info  = Age [[Pleistocene]] {{fossil range|0.4|0.15}}<ref name="Mortimer2008"/> <br />[[Volcanic arc|Arc volcano]]
}}

The '''Solander Islands / Hautere''' are three eroded remnant [[volcano|volcanic]] islets towards the western entrance of the [[Foveaux Strait]] just beyond New Zealand's South Island. The islands lie {{convert|40|km|mi|abbr=on}} south of the coastline of [[Fiordland]].<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Geology and Age of Solander Volcano, Fiordland, New Zealand |journal=Journal of Geology |last=Mortimer |first=N. |volume=121 |pages=475–487 |doi=10.1086/671397 |year=2013|issue=5 |bibcode=2013JG....121..475M }}</ref>

The islands are [[andesite]] rocks with the tip being a larger submerged [[stratovolcano]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=241800|title=Global Volcanism Program &#124; Hautere|website=Smithsonian Institution &#124; Global Volcanism Program|access-date=2024-09-10}}</ref> roughly equivalent in size to [[Mount Taranaki]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Sea floor geology - Active plate boundaries |encyclopedia=[[Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |last1=Lewis |first1=Keith |url=http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/5598/solander-island |access-date=16 May 2024 |date=12 June 2006 |last2=Nodder |first2=Scott D. |last3=Carter |first3=Lionel}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Solander Island – an extinct volcano |url=https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/2366-solander-island-an-extinct-volcano |website=Science Learning Hub |access-date=19 February 2022 |language=en}}</ref> It was formerly believed that the volcano last erupted roughly 2 million years ago, but in 2008 [[radiometric dating]] of rock samples from the main island found that it was between 150,000 and 400,000 years old.<ref name="Mortimer2008">{{cite journal |first1=N. |last1=Mortimer |first2= P.B. |last2=Gans |first3= D.C. |last3=Mildenhall |title=A middle-late Quaternary age for the adakitic arc volcanics of Hautere (Solander Island), Southern Ocean |journal=Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research |volume=178 |issue=4 |year=2008 |pages= 701–707 |issn=0377-0273 |doi=10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2008.09.003 |bibcode=2008JVGR..178..701M |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037702730800468X |url-access=subscription }}</ref> In 2013 it was discovered that Little Solander Island had been active even more recently at between 20 and 50,000 years ago.<ref name="Mortimer2013">{{cite journal |first1=N. |last1=Mortimer |first2= P.B. |last2=Gans |first3= F. V. |last3=Foley |first4=M. B. |last4=Turner |first5=N. |last5=Daczko|first6=M. |last6=Robertson |first7=I. M. |last7=Turnbull  |title=Geology and Age of Solander Volcano, Fiordland, New Zealand  |journal=Journal of Geology |volume=121|issue=5 |year=2013 |pages= 475–487 |doi=10.1086/671397 |bibcode=2013JG....121..475M |s2cid=140662244 }}</ref>

Administratively, the islands form part of [[Southland District]], making them the only uninhabited [[New Zealand outlying islands|outlying island group]] of New Zealand to be part of a local authority.

==Islands==
Solander Island / Hautere (also known in Māori as ''Te Niho a Kewa''), the main island,<ref>{{Cite news |title=Te Ara-a-Kiwa: How Foveaux Strait came to be according to Māori legend |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/126297972/te-araakiwa-how-foveaux-strait-came-to-be-according-to-mori-legend |date=2021-09-21 |access-date=2024-05-16 |work=[[The Southland Times]] }}</ref> covers around {{convert|1|km2|abbr=on}}, rising steeply to a peak {{convert|330|m|ft|0}} above sea level. It is wooded except for its northeast end, mainly a bare, white rock. A deep cave is on the east side, Sealers Cave. Little Solander Island is {{convert|1.9|km|mi|abbr=on}} west. It reaches {{convert|148|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} high yet covers {{convert|4|ha|acre|abbr=on}}. It has a barren appearance and is [[guano]]-covered. Pierced Rock is {{convert|250|m|yd|0|abbr=on}} south of the main island. It rises to {{convert|54|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} and covers {{convert|2000|m2|sqft|abbr=on}} (0.2&nbsp;ha).

Administratively, the islands form part of [[Southland District]], making them the only uninhabited [[New Zealand outlying islands|outlying island group]] of New Zealand to be part of a local authority.

==History==
[[File:Solander Islands 1770 020102-13.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|View of the Solander Islands, drawn by [[Herman Spöring Jr.|Herman Spöring]] on HMB Endeavour, 1770]]
The Māori name for the summit of Solander Island is ''Pukekohu'', and the side of the summit is known in Māori as ''Pukepari''.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Maori Nomenclature: Early history of Otago |last=Roberts |first=W.H.S |pages=40 |work=[[Otago Daily Times]] |year=1910 |location=Dunedin, New Zealand}}</ref> "Hautere" is the father of ''Moko'', a [[Ngāti Kurī]] chief, who notably murdered a [[Kāti Māmoe]] chief called ''Tūtewaimate''.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Maoris and Fiordland: Māori myths, fascinating fables, legendary lore, typical traditions and native nomenclature |last=Beattie |first=J.H |publisher=[[Otago Daily Times]] |year=1949 |location=Dunedin, New Zealand |pages=19 |author-link=Herries Beattie}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Māori place-names of Otago: hundreds of hitherto unpublished names with numerous authentic traditions / told by the Maoris to Herries Beattie |last=Beattie |first=J.H |pages=76 |work=[[Otago Daily Times]] |year=1944 |publication-place=Dunedin, New Zealand}}</ref>

The island chain was sighted by Captain [[James Cook]] on 11 March 1770 and named by him after the Swedish naturalist [[Daniel Solander]], one of the scientific crew aboard Cook's ship, ''[[HM Bark Endeavour|Endeavour]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lee |first1=Garry J. |title=Science on the Map: Places in New Zealand Named After Scientists |url=http://www.rutherfordjournal.org/article020102.html?&sa=U&ei=PNofVe3iF9DXoASapoDoAw&ved=0CHQQFjAR&usg=AFQjCNES9q1qTmVcpM0ztQnUAdNNep48Xw |website=The Rutherford Journal |accessdate=20 April 2019}}</ref>

The islands are geographically forbidding and weather conditions often confound the approach of ships, dissuading attempts at permanent habitation. Australian sealers briefly made use of the islands during the early 19th century, likely living on small flats between the island's cliffs and its shoreline for stints of a few months.<ref name="Murihiku">{{cite book |last1=McNab |first1=Robert |title=Murihiku: A History of the South Island of New Zealand and the Islands Adjacent and Lying to the South, from 1642 to 1835 |date=1905  |publisher=Cambridge University Press (republished 2011)|pages=208–211 |isbn=9781108039994 |url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-McNMuri-t1-body-d1-d16-d1.html |accessdate=21 March 2019}}</ref> Castaways would occasionally end up on the islands, and in 1813, a passing ship bound for Stewart Island found five men in need of rescue. The men &ndash; four Europeans and one Australian Aboriginal &ndash; were marooned there between 1808 and 1813, representing the longest continuous period of habitation on the islands. They are thought to have been left ashore in two groups for seal hunting (sealing), but the sea prevented the approach of any ship to recover them. In 1810, sealing moved to [[Macquarie Island#History|Macquarie Island]], farther to the west, and they were effectively abandoned. When rediscovered in 1813, it is likely that they had amassed many dried seal pelts.<ref name="Murihiku"/>

==Geology==
The islands are remnants of an isolated extinct [[trachyandesite]] and [[andesite]] [[Pleistocene]] volcano whose volcanics have geochemical affinities with modern [[adakite]]s.<ref name="Foley2013">{{cite journal|first1=Fiona V. |last1=Foley|first2= Norman J. |last2=Pearson|first3= Tracy |last3=Rushmer|first4= Simon |last4=Turner |first5= John |last5=Adam |title= Magmatic Evolution and Magma Mixing of Quaternary Adakites at Solander and Little Solander Islands, New Zealand|journal= Journal of Petrology |volume=54 |issue=4| year=2013 |pages=703–744 |doi=10.1093/petrology/egs082 |url= https://academic.oup.com/petrology/article/54/4/703/1547259|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Foley2014">{{cite journal|last1=Foley |first1= Fiona V.|last2= Turner |first2= Simon|last3= Rushmer|first3= Tracy Rushmer|first4=John T. |last4=Caulfield |first5= Nathan R. |last5=Daczko |first6= Paul |last6=Bierman|first7= Matthew |last7=Robertson |first8=Craig D. |last8=Barrie |first9= Adrian J. |last9=Boyce |title= <sup>10</sup>Be, <sup>18</sup>O and radiogenic isotopic constraints on the origin of adakitic signatures: a case study from Solander and Little Solander Islands, New Zealand|journal= Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology  |volume=168|issue= 1048|year=2014 |doi=10.1007/s00410-014-1048-9 |bibcode= 2014CoMP..168.1048F|s2cid= 129879486}}</ref> The [[andesite|andestic]] dome of Little Solander Island was active between 20 and 50,000 years ago.<ref name="Mortimer2013"/> The age of the main island is 150 to 400 thousand years old, backed up by pollen data, with in one set of analysis the eruptives having a mean age of 344 ± 10 ka and another mean age of 247 ± 8 ka.<ref name="Mortimer2013"/><ref name="Mortimer2008"/> The islands lie on a bank with depths less than {{convert|100|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, separated from the [[continental shelf]] along Foveaux Strait by a {{convert|4|km|mi|abbr=on}} but narrow trough {{convert|200|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} deep (at least {{convert|237|m|ft|0|abbr=on|disp=or}}). Therefore, the islands are included in the [[New Zealand Outlying Islands]].

The islands are the only volcanic land in New Zealand recently related to the subduction of the [[Australian Plate]] beneath the [[Pacific Plate]]<ref name="Mortimer2008"/><ref>Keith Lewis, Scott D. Nodder and Lionel Carter. '[http://www.teara.govt.nz/EarthSeaAndSky/OceanStudyAndConservation/SeaFloorGeology/2/ENZ-Resources/Standard/4/en Sea floor geology – Solander Island]', ''Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand''. Updated 21 September 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2009.</ref> along the [[Puysegur Trench]], which extends southwards from the end of the [[Alpine Fault]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Alpine Fault |url=https://www.otago.ac.nz/geology/research/alpine-fault/index.html |website=www.otago.ac.nz |publisher=Department of Geology, Otago University |access-date=18 August 2022 |language=en-nz}}</ref> The current estimated rate of subduction is 35–36&nbsp;mm per year.<ref name="Foley2013"/>  The Solander Basin [[Mesozoic]] continental basement rock consists of [[diorite]] and subordinate [[gabbro]] overlaid by [[Oligocene]] to [[Pliocene]] sediment.<ref name="Foley2013"/>  This is isotopically distinct continental crust from the Solander Islands, excluding partial melting of the lower crust as creating the volcanic magma.<ref name="Foley2014"/> It has been suggested that the melt that formed the islands comes from a [[Peridotite|peridotitic]] source enriched by the addition of a slab-derived melt with subsequent open-system [[fractionation]], resulted in the evolved andesitic adakites.<ref name="Foley2014"/>

==Flora and fauna==
There are 53 vascular plant species, one third of which are very rare. The flora is dominated by [[fern]]s and [[orchid]]s.  The southern, and nominate, [[subspecies]] of Buller's albatross (''Thalassarche b. bulleri'') breeds only on the Solanders and the [[Snares Islands / Tini Heke|Snares]].

The Solander Islands were historically a well-known area for migrating whales, especially [[southern right whale|southern right]] and [[sperm whale]]s. Sperm whales in this area were said to be exceptionally large.<ref>{{cite Q|Q125945903}}</ref>

==Bird life==
The islands are home to a variety of bird life.<ref>{{cite web |last1=O'Donnell |first1=Colin F.J. |title=Birds and mammals of Solander (Hautere) Island." Notornis 27: 21-44. |url=https://notornis.osnz.org.nz/system/files/Notornis_41_3_213.pdf |publisher=Notornis vol. 27) |pages=21–44}}</ref>

The Solander group has been identified as an [[Important Bird Area]] (IBA) by [[BirdLife International]] because of its significance as a breeding site for [[Buller's albatross]]es (with about 5000 pairs) and [[common diving petrel]]s.<ref>BirdLife International. (2012). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Solander Islands. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 27 January 2012.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Islands}}
* [[New Zealand outlying islands]]
* [[List of islands of New Zealand]]
* [[List of islands]]
* [[Desert island]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

* {{WisesGuide1969}}

==External links==
* [http://www.teara.govt.nz/EarthSeaAndSky/OceanStudyAndConservation/SeaFloorGeology/2/ENZ-Resources/Standard/4/en Geology]
* [http://www.rsnz.org/publish/nzjb/1975/13.php Botany]
* [http://www.nzgeographic.co.nz/articles.php?ID=121 Fauna (Albatrosses)]
* [http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/websites/pollux/pollux.nss.nima.mil/NAV_PUBS/SD/pub127/127sec12.pdf Nautical information]
* [http://www.nztopoonline.linz.govt.nz/website/nztmtopo/viewer.htm NZ map viewer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511212202/http://www.nztopoonline.linz.govt.nz/website/nztmtopo/viewer.htm |date=11 May 2009 }}
* [http://www.teara.govt.nz/EarthSeaAndSky/OceanStudyAndConservation/SeaFloorGeology/2/ENZ-Resources/Standard/4/en photo]

{{Administrative divisions of New Zealand}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Islands of the Southland Region]]
[[Category:New Zealand outlying islands]]
[[Category:Volcanoes of the New Zealand outlying islands]]
[[Category:Pleistocene volcanoes]]
[[Category:Extinct volcanoes]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of New Zealand]]
[[Category:Volcanic islands of New Zealand]]
[[Category:Uninhabited islands of New Zealand]]
[[Category:Foveaux Strait]]
[[Category:Islands of the New Zealand outlying islands]]
[[Category:Stratovolcanoes of New Zealand]]