Desventuradas Islands

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Desventuradas Islands
Waters Pacific Ocean
Geographical location 26 ° 19 ′  S , 79 ° 59 ′  W Coordinates: 26 ° 19 ′  S , 79 ° 59 ′  W
Map of Desventuradas Islands
Number of islands 4th
Main island San Félix
Total land area 3.9 km²
Residents uninhabited
NASA Landsat7 image of the Desventuradas Islands
NASA - Landsat 7 image of the Desventuradas Islands

The Desventuradas Islands (from Spanish Islas Desventuradas , about "unfortunate islands") are a small group of islands in the Pacific Ocean , consisting of the main islands of San Félix and San Ambrosio and two smaller islets. Politically, the islands belong to the urban area of Valparaíso , from the city center they are 1,090 km (San Ambrosio) and 1,111 km (San Félix) away. In addition to Desventuradas , common spellings are also Desventurados or Desaventuradas .

Emergence

The islands are of volcanic origin and, like Salas y Gómez or Easter Island, belong to the Pascua volcanic chain. The islands were formed by staggered bursts of volcanic activity that contributed to the formation of the islands at least until about 100,000 years ago.

geography

The Desventuradas include the following islands from east to west:

f1Georeferencing Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

Island / rocks Area
(km²)		 Highest
elevation		 Geographic
coordinates
San Ambrosio 2.2 479 26 ° 21 ′  S , 79 ° 53 ′  W
San Felix group
Islote González 0.25 173 26 ° 19 ′  S , 80 ° 5 ′  W
San Félix 1.4 Cerro Amarillo, 193 26 ° 17 ′  S , 80 ° 6 ′  W
Roca Catedral 0.01 53 26 ° 16 ′  S , 80 ° 7 ′  W
Desventuradas 3.9 479  

Together the islands have an area of ​​3.9 km². The two main islands are 21 km apart and are made of rugged basalt . There are no natural freshwater sources on the arid islands that rise steeply from the ocean. Apart from a small unit of the Chilean armed forces (including the airfield) on San Félix, the archipelago is uninhabited.

discovery

The islands were certainly sighted on November 8, 1574 by Juan Fernández , who shortly thereafter also discovered the Juan Fernández Islands named after him . It is possible that the Desventuradas were discovered by Ferdinand Magellan at the beginning of 1521 .

Ecosystem

Due to their isolation, the Desventuradas represent an extraordinary ecosystem similar to the Galápagos or the Revillagigedo Islands . About ten species of birds are native to the islands, including the Nazca booby ( Sula granti ) , which only occurs in the eastern Pacific, or the endangered Juan Fernandez petrel ( Pterodroma) defilippiana ). The islands belong to the neotropical region .

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