Solander Islands
| Solander Islands | ||
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| Waters | South pacific | |
| Geographical location | 46 ° 34 ′ S , 166 ° 54 ′ E | |
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| Number of islands | 2 | |
| Main island | Solander Island | |
| Total land area | 108 ha | |
| Residents | uninhabited | |
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The Solander Islands are a small group of islands south of the South Island of New Zealand . The two islands, Solander Island ( Māori : Te Niho a Kewa ) and the smaller Little Solander Island are administratively assigned to the Southland District .
geography
The archipelago is located in the western part of the Foveaux Strait , 40 km south of the South Island and 60 km northwest of Stewart Island .
Solander Island , as the main island, measures 1.7 km in its longest extent and is 1.2 km wide at its widest point. The approximately 100 hectare island has steep coasts and a small plateau up to 330 m high. Some of the rocks protruding around the island are bizarre.
Little Solander Island , the smaller island, is only 8 hectares and is located 2 km west of the larger sister island. The island protrudes like a large rock with steep flanks up to 180 m out of the water.
geology
The archipelago is of volcanic origin. It represents the eroded remnant of a former volcano . The volcano is the only known volcano on the line of the Ring of Fire , which is located south of Mount Ruapehu .
In February 2010, a team of researchers visited the main island. Through their research using radiometric dating , they were able to determine that, contrary to previous assumptions, the islands are not 2 million years old, but that their age can be estimated at 150,000 to 400,000 years.
history
On March 11, 1770, James Cook discovered the islands on his first South Sea voyage of discovery and named them after the Swedish botanist Daniel Solander who was traveling on this trip .
In the first decades of the 19th century, sealers visited the archipelago and wiped out almost all seals there. However, the seal colonies recovered and an estimated 5000 specimens could be observed again in early 1971.
Flora and fauna
Ferns, bushes and tussock grass grow on the treeless islands . The rugged rocks are partly ungrown. In addition to large colonies of seals, some thick-billed penguins , snare island penguins , buller albatroses and a wide variety of sea gull species from the southern regions live on the islands.
The Solander Islands are part of the Fiordland National Park .
Web links
literature
- WJ Cooper, CM Miskelly , K. Morrison, RJ Peacock : Birds of the Solander Islands . In: Ornithological Society of New Zealand (ed.): Notornis - Journal of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand . Volume 33 Part 2 . Wellington June 1986, p. 77–89 (English, online PDF 3.4 MB [accessed on May 13, 2015]).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Solander Island - an extinct volcano . The University of Waikato , May 17, 2010, accessed May 13, 2015 .
- ↑ Solander Islands . (PDF 795 kB) Massey University , accessed on May 13, 2015 .
- ^ A b c d e Cooper, Miskelly, Morrison, Peacock : Birds of the Solander Islands . In: Notoris . 1986, p. 77 .
- ^ Cooper, Miskelly, Morrison, Peacock : Birds of the Solander Islands . In: Notoris . 1986, p. 81-84 .