Ascension
Island |
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Mid-Atlantic
Ridge |
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Earth's Natural Wonders in
Africa |
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Area of Ascension
Island: 34 square miles (88 sq
km) |
Notable feature:
green turtles 3 feet (1 m) long |
Nearest land
(island if St. Helena) 1,200 miles
(1,931 km) |
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Ascension
Island-North East Bay[1] |
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Ascension Island is an isolated island
of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic
Ocean, around 1,600 kilometres (994
mi) from the coast of Africa, and
2,250 kilometres (1,398 mi) from the
coast of South America. It is a dependency
of the British overseas territory
of Saint Helena, which is 1,287 kilometres
(800 mi) to the southeast. The Island
is named after the day of its recorded
discovery, Ascension Day.
The island is the location of Wideawake
Airfield, which is a joint facility
of the Royal Air Force and the United
States Air Force. The island was used
extensively by the British military
during the Falklands War. Ascension
Island hosts one of five ground antennas
(others are on Kwajalein, Diego Garcia,
Colorado Springs and Hawaii) that
assist in the operation of the Global
Positioning System (GPS) navigational
system.
Ascension Island does not have its
own flag or coat of arms. The Union
Flag and Royal coat of arms of the
United Kingdom are used instead.[2]
Part of the volcanically
active Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Ascension
Island is actually a mountain
peak that rises 10,000 feet (3,048
meters) from the Atlantic floor. |
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The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a
weakness in the Earth's crust,
as the plates of Africa and Europe
pull away from the plates of North
and South America, molten rock
pushes up from below and eventually
breaks through the surface of
the sea. These rocky outcrops
start life as barren islands but
with time turn into fertile lands.
Ascension island forms one of
the volcanic islands that line
the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. |
Ascension Island-
Two Sister's Mt from English Bay
road[1] |
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Evidence of its
violent birth dots the landscape,
from pyroclastic deposits, trachyte
lava flows and domes, scoria cones,
and mafic lava flows. |
Despite its barren volcanic
landscape, the island is full
of life and boasts an abundance
of flora and fauna. One of its
unusal visitors is the green sea
turtle. These docile reptiles
usually feed along Brazil's shoreline,
but when the time comes to breed
they swim out to sea and head
for the shores of Ascension island.
After traveling for miles across
tha Atlantic ocean, the turtles
haul themselves onto the beach
to deposit their eggs. How they
finf their way in the featureless
ocean is a mystery, but there
is some speculation about why
they make the journey. |
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Ascension
Island-PanAm Beach[1] |
At one time Africa and South America
were closer together, but as they
separated a string of volcanoes broke
the surface across the widening ocean.
As the volcano stopped erupting and
cooled, the turtles used its beches
as nesting sites, safe from mainland
predators. Deprived of fresh lava,
each volcanic island was eroded by
the sea, until it eventually vanished
below the ocean. At this point the
turtles migrated to the next available
island, and gradually the traveling
distance became greater. Today they
make this epic journey to Ascension
Island.
Geography
The main island has an area of approximately
91 km2. A volcanic peak rising from
just west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge,
much of the island is a wasteland
of lava flows and cinder cones; no
fewer than forty-four distinct craters
have been identified.
While the island was
barren with few plants as recently
as 1843, Ascension Island's Green
Mountain is now one of the few large-scale
planned forests, and is gradually
growing with each year. Its highest
point is at 2,817 feet (859 m).
Off the east coast of
Ascension is the tiny island of Boatswain
Bird Island. It is a haven for sea
birds, to get away from the rats,
cats and people that came to Ascension
Island from Europe and Africa. Following
a successful campaign headed by the
Royal Society for the Protection of
Birds, the main island was in 2006
declared free of feral cats, and sea
birds are now once again nesting on
Ascension Island.
Ascension's climate
is tropical, with temperatures at
the coast ranging from about 68 to
88 degrees Fahrenheit (20–31
°C), and about 10 degrees Fahrenheit
(5 to 6 degrees Celsius) cooler at
the highest point. Rain showers may
occur at any time during the year,
but tend to be heavier between January
and April.[2]
Ascension Island is also home to an
amazing array of bird life including
red-footed booby, sooty tern, brown
noddy, red-billed tropic bird, and
Indian myna. Green sea turtles, shark,
wahoo, and barracuda also swim the
areas surrounding the island
Ascension was first discovered in
1501 by Juan da Nova Castella, but
the discovery apparently went unrecorded,
and the island was re-discovered on
Ascension Day 1503 by Alfonso d'Albuquerque.
Subsequently Ascension was little
visited; it was too dry and barren
to be of any use to the East Indies
fleets. Ascension became strategically
significant with the exile of Napoleon
to St. Helena; the British were concerned
that it could be used in any attempt
to rescue Napoleon. Thus a small British
naval garrison was established on
the island in October 1815. By Napoleon's
death in 1821 Ascension had become
a victualling station and sanitarium
for ships engaged in suppression of
the slave trade from the West African
coast. In 1823 the garrison was taken
over by the Royal Marines and the
island remained a naval possession
(HMS Ascension, "a Sloop of War
of the smaller class") until
1922 when Ascension became a dependency
of St. Helena.[3]