Island – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An island // or isle // is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island in a river or a lake island may be called an eyot or ait, or a holm. A grouping of geographically or geologically related islands is called an archipelago, e.g. the Philippines.

An island may be described as such despite the presence of an artificial land bridge, for example Singapore and its causeway, or the various Dutch delta islands, such as IJsselmonde. Some places may even retain "island" in their names for historical reasons after being connected to a larger landmass by a wide land bridge, such as Coney Island. Conversely, when a piece of land is separated from the mainland by a man-made canal, for example the Peloponnese by the Corinth Canal, it is generally not considered an island.

There are two main types of islands: continental islands and oceanic islands. There are also artificial islands.

The word island comes from Middle English iland, from Old English igland (from ig, similarly meaning 'island' when used independently, and -land carrying its contemporary meaning; cf. Dutch eiland ("island"), German Eiland ("small island")). However, the spelling of the word was modified in the 15th century due to an incorrect association with the etymologically unrelated Old French loanword isle, which itself comes from the Latin word insula.[1] Old English ig is actually a cognate of Latin aqua (water).[2]

Greenland is the world's largest island [3] with an area of over 2.1 million km, while Australia, the world's smallest continent[4] has an area of 7.6 million km, but there is no standard of size which distinguishes islands from continents,[5] or from islets.[6] There is a difference between islands and continents in terms of geology. Continents sit on continental lithosphere which is part of tectonic plates floating high on Earth's molten mantle. Oceanic crust is also part of tectonic plates, but it is denser than continental lithosphere, so it floats low on the mantle. Islands are either extensions of the oceanic crust (e.g. volcanic islands) or geologically they are part of some continent sitting on continental lithosphere(e.g. Greenland).[7] This holds true for Australia, which sits on its own continental lithosphere and tectonic plate.

Continental islands are bodies of land that lie on the continental shelf of a continent. Examples include Borneo, Java, and Sumatra off Asia; New Guinea, Tasmania, and Kangaroo Island off Australia; Great Britain, Ireland, and Sicily off Europe; Greenland, Newfoundland, Long Island, and Sable Island off North America; and Barbados and Trinidad off South America.

A special type of continental island is the microcontinental island, which results when a continent is rifted. Examples are Madagascar and Socotra off Africa, the Kerguelen Islands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, and some of the Seychelles.

Another subtype is an island or bar formed by deposition of tiny rocks where a water current loses some of its carrying capacity. An example is barrier islands, which are accumulations of sand deposited by sea currents on the continental shelves. Another example is islands in river deltas or in large rivers. While some are transitory and may disappear if the volume or speed of the current changes, others are stable and long-lived. Islets are very small islands.

A desert island is an island with no people. Typically, a desert island is denoted as such because it exists in a state of being deserted, or abandoned. An arid desert climate is not typically implied; one dictionary uses the phrase 'desert island' to illustrate the use of 'desert' as an adjective meaning "desolate and sparsely occupied or unoccupied".[8] According to another, "A desert island is a small tropical island, where nobody lives or an undiscovered island."[9]

Oceanic islands are ones that do not sit on continental shelves. The vast majority are volcanic in origin.[10] The few oceanic islands that are not volcanic are tectonic in origin and arise where plate movements have lifted up the deep ocean floor to above the surface. Examples of this include Saint Peter and Paul Rocks in the Atlantic Ocean and Macquarie Island in the Pacific.

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Island - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Interview: The Grinch at Universal Orlando Islands of Adventure for Grinchmas 2013 – Video


Interview: The Grinch at Universal Orlando Islands of Adventure for Grinchmas 2013
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Hawaiian Islands – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hawaiian Islands Nickname: Mokupuni o Hawaii

True color satellite image of the Hawaiian Islands

United States

The Hawaiian Islands (Hawaiian: Mokupuni o Hawaii) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometres) from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll. Once known as the "Sandwich Islands", the name chosen by James Cook in honour of the then First Lord of the Admiralty John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, the archipelago now takes its name from the largest island in the cluster. The United States state of Hawaii occupies the archipelago almost in its entirety, with the sole exception of Midway island, which is instead an unincorporated territory within the United States Minor Outlying Islands.

The Hawaiian Islands are the exposed peaks of a great undersea mountain range known as the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain, formed by volcanic activity over a hotspot in the Earth's mantle. The islands are about 1,860 miles (3,000km) from the nearest continent.[1]

Captain James Cook visited the islands on January 18, 1778 and named them the "Sandwich Islands" in honor of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, who was one of his sponsors as the First Lord of the Admiralty.[2] This name was in use until the 1840s, when the local name "Hawaii" gradually began to take precedence.[3]

The Hawaiian Islands have a total land area of 6,423.4 square miles (16,636.5km2). Except for Midway, which is an unincorporated territory of the United States, these islands and islets are administered as the state of Hawaiithe 50th state of the United States of America.

The eight main islands of Hawaii (also called the Hawaiian Windward Islands) are listed here. All except Kahoolawe are inhabited.

Smaller islands, atolls, and reefs (all west of Niihau are uninhabited) form the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, or Hawaiian Leeward Islands:

The state of Hawaii counts 137 "islands" in the Hawaiian chain.[13] This number includes all minor islands and islets offshore of the main islands (listed above) and individual islets in each atoll. These are just a few:

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Hawaiian Islands - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Damaged Reefs Show Resiliency in Cayman Islands

A 13-year study of coral reefs spontaneously recovering in the Cayman Islands offers hope of refuting often doomsday forecasts about the worldwide decline of the colorful marine habitat.

By Barbara Liston

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A 13-year study of coral reefs spontaneously recovering in the Cayman Islands offers hope of refuting often doomsday forecasts about the worldwide decline of the colorful marine habitat.

Scientists monitoring the Cayman reefs noted a 40 percent decline in live coral cover between 1999 and 2004 during a period of warmer seas in the Caribbean.

However, seven years later, the amount, size and density of the live coral had returned to 1999 levels as sea temperatures eased, according to Tom Frazer, professor of aquatic ecology at the University of Florida and part of the research team.

"People have said these systems don't have a chance," Frazer told Reuters. "What we are saying is: 'Hey, this is evidence they do have a chance.'"

Coral reefs account for 0.01 percent of the marine environment. They harbor up to 25 percent of the different species of marine organisms and generate millions of dollars for the fishing and tourism industries, the report states.

"They're kind of like the rain forest of the sea," Frazer said.

The reefs are dying around the world. In 2012, the Australian Institute of Marine Science reported that coral coverage of the Great Barrier Reef had declined by half over the previous 27 years.

The Cayman Islands study, conducted with the Central Caribbean Marine Institute there, was published in the November online issue of the San Francisco-based Public Library of Science and highlighted in last month's issue of the Science journal.

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Virgin Islands tournament serves as homecoming for USM’s Carey

JAMES GIBBARD/Tulsa WorldSouthern Miss forward Norville Carey prepares to go up for a shot guarded by UTEP's Julian Washburn during the Conference USA Tournament in Tulsa in March. Carey will visit his hometown in the Virgin Islands when USM travels to a tournament there.

JAMES GIBBARD TULSA WORLD

HATTIESBURG -- Southern Miss sophomore Norville Carey figures to see a few friends and relatives this week when the Golden Eagles play in the BVI Tropical Shootout in the Virgin Islands.

The site of the tournament, you see, is in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, the home of Carey.

Just how far is it from Carey's home to the arena?

"About a 10 or 15-minute walk," he said.

Carey said he didn't know how any people would be at the game against Coppin State at 9 p.m. today or the one Saturday against either Jacksonville State or Arkansas-Little Rock.

But Southern Miss basketball coach Donnie Tyndall said the sky's the limit.

"The tournament director actually contacted us because our guy, Norville Carey, he's a folk hero over there," Tyndall said. "People love him, and people are so proud of the fact that he's one of the few guys who have gotten out of the country and are playing at a major Division I school."

Carey, at 6-foot-7, is averaging 3.2 points and 1.9 rebounds per game this season. He has played in nine

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Virgin Islands tournament serves as homecoming for USM's Carey

Stansted: Airport secures Atlantic Airways link with Faroe Islands for summer 2014

Magni Arge, chief executive of Atlantic Airways, which is to operate flights between Stansted Airport and the Faroe Islands next summer.

Thursday, November 14, 2013 6:00 AM

Faroese flag carrier Atlantic Airways is to launch a twice-weekly summer schedule from Stansted to the Faroe Islands next summer.

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Atlantic, which celebrated its 25th birthday earlier this year, will operate the flights on Mondays and Thursdays, from June 5 until August 25, with return fares booked online starting at around 239, including taxes, charges and booking fee.

Flights depart Stansted at 1005 on Monday, arriving in the Faroe Islands at 1230 and at 1220 , arrving 1440, on Thursdays. Return flights depart at 0700 Monday and 0915 Thursday, and arrive at Stansted at 0920 and 1135 respectively.

Atlantic Airways and tourist body, Visit Faroe Islands, have been working to add to the portfolio of UK operators offering the Faroe Islands, with Regent Holidays, Taber Holidays and Inntravel all now selling breaks in the islands, dubbed the worlds favourite unspoilt island destination by experts at National Geographic Traveler Magazine.

The new operators join Sunvil Discovery, which has offered holidays in the Faroe Islands for a

number of years.

Events on the islands next summer include the G! Festival, the islands own outdoor music extravaganza, in July, and the Summer Music Festival, in August.

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Stansted: Airport secures Atlantic Airways link with Faroe Islands for summer 2014

Super Typhoon Haiyan : Leaves over 10,000 dead in one area of the Philippine Islands (Nov 10, 2013) – Video


Super Typhoon Haiyan : Leaves over 10,000 dead in one area of the Philippine Islands (Nov 10, 2013)
SOURCE: http://www.foxnews.com News Articles: Typhoon Haiyan: at least 10000 reported dead in Philippine province http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/...

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Super Typhoon Haiyan : Leaves over 10,000 dead in one area of the Philippine Islands (Nov 10, 2013) - Video

Islands to consider a future in farming

Nov. 11, 2013, 1 p.m.

Farming was once a successful industry on the Southern Moreton Bay Islands, but the practice gave way to land devlopment from the 1960s. A community discussion on Macleay Island on Saturday, November 23 will discuss the economic viability of returning some farming to the islands. Photo courtesy of SMBI Museum on Russell Island

Farming was once a successful industry on the Southern Moreton Bay Islands, but the practice gave way to land devlopment from the 1960s. A community discussion, with guest speakers, will be held on Macleay Island on Saturday, November 23 to discuss the economic viability of returning some farming to the islands. Photo courtesy of SMBI Museum on Russell Island

A COMMUNITY discussion about returning farming to the Southern Moreton Bay Islands (SMBI) will be held on Macleay Island next weekend ( November 23)

The event is part of a study by several residents into returning some farming to the islands.

Study spokesman and SMBI Forum member Dave Tardent, of Karragarra Island, said the concept would be put before the next SMBI Forum meeting for approval and auspice under that body.

Guest speakers at the event will include: Frank Pearce from Redland City Council, who will talk about economic development on the islands; Dave, who will explain the concept and speak about how farming would fit into the SMBI economy; north coast market gardener Alexina Johnson; and others.

The event will start at 11am at the lemon farm in Lonciera Street, Macleay Island. All interested people from the islands and mainland are invited to attend.

To get to Macleay Island from the mainland, catch a Bay Island Transit Systems water bus from Weinam Creek Marina, Banana Street, Redland Bay. http://www.translink.com.au

Transport will be available on Macleay Island to meet the 10.10am water bus from the mainland and the 11.03am water bus from the islands.

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Islands to consider a future in farming

Goat Islands debate premature – Douglas

Jermaine Francis, Gleaner Writer

The debate over whether or not the Goat Islands, located in the Portland Bight Protected Area, could be used as a trans-shipment hub has been deemed premature by the man who was commissioned to head an environmental management scoping study on the area.

Dr Conrad Douglas, whose team conducted the Port Authority of Jamaica-commissioned Environ-mental Management Scoping of the Portland Bight, said there was not enough evidence available at this time for a fair debate to ensue over any environmental impact a hub may have on the Goat Islands.

Douglas made the remarks at the 'Logistics Hub: The Economy vs The Environment' symposium put on by the University of the West Indies and the Caribbean Maritime Institute, last Saturday.

He said the design and the intended plan for the islands have not yet been presented and, as such, assessments about the environmental impact were useless at this time.

"Because you don't know the horizontal and vertical profile of the project; because you don't know what the project entails and where it will be, you cannot proceed to make statements about the environmental impact," Douglas said.

Determining suitability

Douglas noted that a comprehensive environmental impact assessment must be done on the Goat Islands to determine its suitability.

"An environmental impact assessment attempts to predict the sort of impacts that could take place in a given area, having identified and critically assessed the design and impacts of the project. None of this is in the public domain at this time. We don't know the engineering designs and so on," Douglas added.

He said they were just at the stage where they were looking at what had been the area's historical use, what was its legal status, and what could be done in general on the Goat Islands.

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Goat Islands debate premature - Douglas

China flirt chinese waitress lol Tenerife Canary islands George Godley April 2013 005931 – Video


China flirt chinese waitress lol Tenerife Canary islands George Godley April 2013 005931
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China flirt chinese waitress lol Tenerife Canary islands George Godley April 2013 005931 - Video