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Malpelo is a small island in the East Pacific Ocean, located about west of the Colombian mainland. Except for a small military post that is manned by the Colombian Armed Forces, it is uninhabited. It consists of a sheer and barren rock with three high peaks, the highest being ''Cerro de la Mona'' with a height of . The island is about one mile in length from northeast to southwest, and 700 yards in width. It 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 with a length of and a width of . This island is surrounded by a number of offshore rocks. Off the northeast corner are the ''Tres Mosqueteros''. Off the southwest corner are ''Salomon'', ''Saul'', ''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 of between 1,000 and 5,000 fathoms are obtainable within a few miles of the shore, and the currents are strong and changeable. As an oceanic island, this island has never been connected with any other islands or the mainland.〔Anonymous (2010) (''Pacific Coast: Malpelo Island'' ), (Coasts of Colombia. ) Coastal and Marine Geology Program, United States Geological Survey, Santa Cruz, California.〕〔Marcaillou, B. P. Charvis, and J.-Y. Collot (2006) ''Structure of the Malpelo Ridge (Colombia) from seismic and gravity modeling.'' Marine Geophysical Research. 27:289–300.〕 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.〔〔〔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 Galapagos hotspot: implications for the tectonic and biological evolution of the Americas.'' Geology. 30(9):795–798.〕 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. The Malpelo Nature Reserve, a plant and wildlife sanctuary, is defined as a circular area of radius centered at . On July 12, 2006, Malpelo was declared by UNESCO as a natural World Heritage Site. A Colombian foundation〔(Fundación Malpelo y Otros Ecosistemas Marinos )〕 is trying to preserve the biodiversity of the site. 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 sharkdiving location. Malpelo 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".〔Schneider, P. (nd) (Malpelo Island the "Mount Everest" of shark and large pelagic diving. ) Advanced Diver Magazine Digital. Bradenton, Florida.〕 ''Acanthemblemaria stephensi'', the Malpelo barnacle blenny, is a species of chaenopsid blenny found in coral reefs around Malpelo. Malpelo counts as a separate "entity" for amateur radio credit. Because of the rugged terrain, strong currents, and remote location the island is rarely activated.〔(DXpedition to Malpelo Island 1969 )〕 A DX-pedition occurred in early 2012, with the operators making 195,292 contacts under very difficult conditions.〔(Malpelo DXpedition 2012 ) 〕 == Chronology == * 1530 - Malpelo is said to be recorded in a map of this date. * 1542 - Cristóbal Vaca de Castro visits. * 1550 - Malpelo is recorded in P. Desceliers' map. * 1704 - Wreck of the English vessel ''Cinque Ports'' * 1790 - Spanish landing on Malpelo mentioned to Alessandro Malaspina. * 1793 - James Colnett visits. * 1837 - Note in ''The Nautical Magazine'' recording visit. * 1891 - Louis Agassiz visits. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Malpelo Island」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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