Malpelo Island
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for clobbered parameters".
Malpelo is a small oceanic island in the eastern Pacific Ocean, located about Script error: No such module "convert". west of the Colombian mainland with a military post manned by the Colombian Armed Forces. It consists of a sheer and barren rock with three high peaks, the highest being the Script error: No such module "convert". Cerro de la Mona. The island is about Script error: No such module "convert". in length from northeast to southwest, and Script error: No such module "convert". across at its widest.
Geography
Malpelo is the only island that rises above the surface from the Malpelo Ridge, which is a solitary volcanic submarine ridge that extends in a northeast-southwest direction for Script error: No such module "convert". and has a width of Script error: No such module "convert".. This island is surrounded by a number of offshore rocks. Off the northeast corner are the Tres Mosqueteros. Off the southwest corner are Salomón, Saúl, La Gringa, and Escuba. All the rocks are surrounded by deep water, and most of the face of the main island is very steep. Soundings between Script error: No such module "convert". are obtainable within a few kilometres of the shoreScript error: No such module "Unsubst". and the currents are strong and changeable. As an oceanic island, it has never been connected with any other islands or the mainland.[1][2][3]
Malpelo Island is composed of Miocene pillow lavas, volcanic breccias, and basaltic dikes that have been dated as being 16 to 17 million years old. This island and the underlying and underwater Malpelo Ridge were created along with the Carnegie Ridge in the Late Miocene by a very complex interaction between the Cocos-Nazca Spreading Centre and the Galápagos hotspot.[1][3][4]
History
Prehistory
Malpelo Island was presumably isolated from human contact prior to European discovery. It is uninhabited, and is located in the same area as other oceanic eastern Pacific islands, such as Cocos Island, Galápagos and the Revillagigedo Islands, which were all uninhabited at the time of European discovery, and possibly throughout their entire history prior to that.[5]
Discovery
The exact date of Malpelo's discovery is unclear, although it may have been the first of the remote eastern Pacific islands to have been discovered by Europeans, as it appears on Peruvian maps from as early as 1530.[6] Malpelo became a possession of Spain following its discovery, and was subsequently annexed by Peru, and later Colombia.[6]
Natural history
At first glance, the island seems to be barren rock, devoid of all vegetation, but deposits of bird guano have helped colonies of algae, lichens, mosses, and some shrubs and ferns establish, all of which glean nutrients from the guano. Lizards are the only non-avian vertebrates on the island, with three species total.
- Agassiz's anole (Anolis agassizi)[7]
- Dotted galliwasp (Diploglossus millepunctatus)[8]
- Colombian leaf-toed gecko (Phyllodactylus transversalis)[9]
It is also home to a unique species of land crabs, Johngarthia malpilensis, first described in 1893.[10]
The island has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a breeding population of some 60,000–110,000 Nazca boobies, as estimated in 2007.[11]
Malpelo is home of a unique shark population; swarms of 500 hammerhead sharks and hundreds of silky sharks are frequently seen by diving expeditions, making it a very popular shark-diving location. It is one of the few places where the smalltooth sand tiger has been seen alive; it is frequently spotted at the dive site "El bajo del Monstruo".[12] Acanthemblemaria stephensi, the Malpelo barnacle blenny, is a species of chaenopsid blenny found in coral reefs around Malpelo. The largest no-fishing zone in the East Pacific, measuring over 850,000 hectares, surrounds the island.[13]
The Malpelo Nature Reserve, a plant and wildlife sanctuary, covering Script error: No such module "convert". centered at Script error: No such module "Coordinates"..[13] A Colombian foundation[14] is trying to preserve the biodiversity of the site. On July 12, 2006, Malpelo was declared by UNESCO as a natural World Heritage Site because of its status as an important shark reserve.[13]
Chronology
- 1530 – Malpelo is said to have been recorded in a map of this date.
- 1542 – Cristóbal Vaca de Castro visited.
- 1550 – Malpelo was recorded in Pierre Desceliers' map.
- 1704 – Wreck of the English vessel Cinque Ports
- 1790 – Spanish landing on Malpelo was mentioned to Alessandro Malaspina.
- 1793 – James Colnett visited.
- 1837 – A note in The Nautical Magazine recorded a visit.
- 1995 – Malpelo was designated as a flora and fauna sanctuary.[15]
Gallery
-
Shore and cliffs
-
Nazca booby Sula granti
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Hoernle K., P. Bogaard, R. Werner, F. Hauff, B. Lissinna, G.E. Alvarado and D. Garbe-Schnberg (2002) Missing history (16–71 Ma) of the Galápagos hotspot: implications for the tectonic and biological evolution of the Americas. Geology. 30(9):795–798.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Wurm, Stephen A., Mühlhäusler, Peter and Tryon, Darrell T.. Atlas of Languages of Intercultural Communication in the Pacific, Asia, and the Americas, Berlin, New York: De Gruyter Mouton, 1996. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110819724
- ↑ Rand, A.S. G.C. Gorman, and W.M. Rand. 1975. Natural history, behavior, and ecology of Anolis agassizi. Pages 27-38 in J. Graham, editor. The Biological Investigation of Malpelo Island, Colombia. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, No.176.
- ↑ Savage, J.M. and K.R. Lips. 1993. A review of the status and biogeography of the lizard genera Celestus and Diploglossus (Squamata: Anguidae), with description of two new species from Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical, 41: 817-842.
- ↑ Huey, R.B. 1975. A new gecko from Malpelo Island (Sauria: Gekkonidae: Phyllodactylus). Pages 44-46 in J. Graham, editor. The Biological Investigation of Malpelo Island, Colombia. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, No.176.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Schneider, P. (nd) Malpelo Island the "Mount Everest" of shark and large pelagic diving. Advanced Diver Magazine Digital. Bradenton, Florida.
- ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Fundación Malpelo y Otros Ecosistemas Marinos
- ↑ Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary in Colombia Protected Planet
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Malpelo, Cocos, and Easter Islands. Peace handbooks. London : H.M. Stationery Office, 1920.
Further reading
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
External links
- Fundación Malpelo
- UNESCO World Heritage profile
- Template:In lang Report on diving at Malpelo, with photos of sharks
- Template:In lang Isla de Malpelo
Template:Eastern Pacific Islands Template:Protected areas of Colombia Template:Recreational dive sites in Colombia Template:Treasures of Colombia Script error: No such module "Navbox". Script error: No such module "Authority control".