Isla Sala y Gómez

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Isla Sala y Gómez is a small uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean belonging to Chile. It is the easternmost point in Polynesia.

Contents

Geography

Sala y Gómez consists of two rocks, a smaller one in the west measuring 4 hectares in area (270 meters north-south, 200 meters east-west), and a larger one in the east measuring 11 hectares (500 meters north-south, 270 meters east-west), which are connected by a narrow isthmus in the north, averaging approximately 30 meters in width. The total area is approximately 15 hectares (0.15 km2), and the total length over the two connected rocks northwest-southeast is 770 meters. At its highest point, in the south of the eastern rock, less than 30 meters from the shore, above a cliff 10 meters high, the island measures 30 meters in height. The highest elevation on the western rock is 26 meters high.

The island is showered with saltwater, and the shoreline is dotted with countless tidepools. Because the shoreline consists primarily of cliffs, landing on the island is difficult in all but the calmest of conditions.

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Although there are no permanent sources of freshwater on the island, there is a depression on the eastern rock that often forms a cachet of freshwater 75 meters across from rainwater (essential for the survival of the large population of seabirds). At times when this area appears dry at the surface, the sand is still moist just a few inches below the surface. The flat, sandy vicinity of this intermittent rainwater pool is the only place on the island suitable as a helicopter landing place.

In 1994, the Chilean Navy installed an automated beacon and a tsunami warning system. The island has since been declared a nature sanctuary.[1]

Location

Isla Sala y Gómez is located at 26° 30′ 55″ S, 105° 17′ 03″ W, 3,220 km west of the Chilean mainland, 2,500 km west of Chile's Desventuradas Islands, and 415 km east-northeast from Easter Island, the closest landmass.

History

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Human visitation

Although there is no evidence that the island has ever been permanently inhabited, Easter Islanders were certainly aware of its existence, which is supported by the pre-European name of the island, and tradition says that the island was visited to collect fledglings and eggs. The island was said to have been difficult to land upon because Make Make and Huau protected the seabirds from those who ate their eggs and offspring. Because of these historical connections to Easter Island, Sala y Gomez is usually considered part of Polynesia. By its location, it is then the easternmost landmass of Polynesia, a title that is sometimes incorrectly awarded to Easter Island, 415 km further west.[2]

The first European to sight the island was José Salas Valdes, a Spanish sailor, on 23 August, 1793. Between then and 1917, visitations are recorded in at least 1805, 1806, 1817, 1825, 1875, and 1917.[3]

Name

The traditional 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).

The current name, Sala y Gómez, is derived from the name of José Salas Valdes, and from José Manuel Gómez, who made the first detailed description of the island, following a visit beginning 18 October, 1805. In recognition of Valdes' name, the island is sometimes also referred to as Isla Salas-y-Gómez.

Political situation

Sala y Gómez was claimed by Chile in 1808, and from 1888, was administered by the Chilean Navy. Beginning 1 March, 1966, the island was included in the department of Isla de Pascua. 25 July, 1974, the department was reorganized as the province of Isla de Pascua.[4]

Geology

Sala y Gómez is a volcanic high island, consisting of the highest part of the summit of a large mountain which rises about 3500 m 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. Sala y Gómez is part of the Sala y Gómez Ridge, as is Easter Island to the west, 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, where it joins the Nazca Ridge.

Besides Easter Island, Sala y Gómez is the youngest mountain in the chain, presumed to have been formed by a hotspot progressing gradually westward from about 27Ma with the Nazca chain, to 2Ma at Easter Island.[5]

Flora

Together with Easter Island, Sala y Gómez, forms a distinct ecoregion, called the Rapa Nui subtropical broadleaf forests. The island itself, however, is not forested, but largely barren, and is home to only four species of terrestrial plants. Among these is Asplenium (or "Spleenwort", a type of fern), which grows only in protected areas at higher elevations.

Fauna

Besides a number of insect species, the only non-aquatic fauna are about a dozen species of seabird, which use the island as a rookery, with the estimated number of adult birds in 1985:

Species (Polynesian Name) Scientific Name Adult birds in 1985
Christmas Shearwater Puffinus nativitatis 5000
Masked Booby (Manukena) Sula dactylatra 3000
Brown Noddy Anous stolidus 1400
Great Frigatebird (Makohe) Fregata minor 700
Sooty Tern Sterna fuscata 200
Blue-Grey Noddy Procelsterna cerulea 80
Red-tailed Tropicbird (Tevake) Phaëthon rubricauda 30
White-throated (Polynesian) Storm-Petrel Nesofregatta 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 littoral crustaceans, echinoidea, etc., as well as a large assortment of reef fishes and a number of species of shark, which swimmers report to be "curious", but not aggressive.

Cultural references

Adalbert von Chamisso wrote a poem about the island.

See also

Reference

  • Radiometric Ages for Seamounts from the Easter-Salas y Gomez-Nazca Hotspot Track. Duncan, R.A., et al. [6]

External links

Retrieved from "http://en.freepedia.org/Isla_Sala_y_G%C3%B3mez.html"


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