The Galápagos Islands are a group of volcanic islands that go by the Spanish name Islas Galápagos (pronounced [islas alapaos], local pronunciation: [ihlah alapaoh]). They are a part of the Republic of Ecuador and are spread out on each side of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, encircling the heart of the Western Hemisphere. The islands, which lie 906 kilometers (563 miles) west of mainland Ecuador, are well-known for their abundance of unique species, many of which Charles Darwin investigated on the second voyage of the HMS Beagle. Darwin’s theory of evolution by means of natural selection was developed in part as a result of his observations and collecting.
The Galápagos Province of Ecuador, the Galápagos National Park, and the Galápagos Marine Reserve are comprised of the Galápagos Islands and the oceans surrounding them. Spanish is widely spoken in the islands. The population of the islands is just over 25,000.
Fray Tomás de Berlanga, the Bishop of Panamá, was shocked to discover this uncharted region in 1535 while traveling to Peru to mediate a disagreement between Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro. This was the first known journey to the islands. When Berlanga ultimately left the islands for the Spanish Empire, he documented the surroundings and the inhabitants’ wildlife. Abraham Ortelius’s map of the Americas, “America Sive Novi Orbis,” which was published in 1570, depicted the collection of islands and gave them the name “Insulae de los Galopegos” (Islands of the Tortoises).
Ambrose Cowley, a buccaneer, created the first rough chart of the islands in 1684. He named the numerous islands after various members of his crew or after English aristocracy and monarchy. Both Darwin’s best-selling book The Voyage of the Beagle and the definitive navigation charts of the islands created during the Beagle survey under captain Robert FitzRoy utilized these names. In 1832, the islands were taken over by the newly formed Republic of Ecuador, who later gave them new Spanish names.
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Geology
On the Galápagos Islands, volcanism has been ongoing for at least 20 million years and maybe longer. A 3-kilometer-thick platform has developed beneath the island chain and seamounts as a result of the mantle plume beneath the Nazca Plate, which is advancing eastward at a rate of 51 km/myr. Other significant tectonic features in the area, besides the Galápagos Archipelago, include the Northern Galápagos Volcanic Province, which lies between the archipelago and the Galápagos Spreading Center (GSC), which is located 200 km to the north at the intersection of the Nazca Plate and the Cocos Plate. The Cocos Ridge and Carnegie Ridge form the eastern and western boundaries of this spreading core, which truncates into the East Pacific Rise on the western side.
In addition, the Galápagos Hotspot is located at the Pacific Large Low Shear Velocity Province’s northern limit, while the Easter Hotspot is located at its southern edge.
Numerous concurrent volcanoes, some with plume magma sources and others from the asthenosphere, potentially as a result of the young and shallow oceanic crust, are a distinctive feature of the Galápagos Archipelago. This thin lithosphere’s structural flaws brought in eruptions that created the Galápagos Platform as a result of the GSC. Particularly Fernandina and Isabela are oriented along these flaws. The islands have a high rate of inflation prior to eruption since there is no clearly defined rift zone on them.
While Fernandina on Fernandina Island showed an elevation of 90 cm, most recent eruption in 2009, Sierra Negra on Isabela Island had an uplift of 240 cm between 1992 and 1998. The most recent eruption at Alcedo on Isabela Island occurred in 1993, causing an elevation of more than 90 cm. The Galápagos Archipelago also features bigger calderas, lower volcanic diameters, and closer volcano spacing. For instance, Isabela Island is home to six significant volcanoes, including Cerro Azul, Sierra Negraa, Wolf, Darwin, and Ecuador, whose most recent eruptions occurred between 1813 and 2008. The most recent eruptions on the adjacent islands of Santiago and Fernandina occurred in 1906 and 2009, respectively.
Physical Geography
The islands are situated 973 kilometers (605 miles) off the west coast of South America in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Additionally, the vast majority of islands are found in the South Pacific. They are located 926 kilometers (500 miles) to the east of mainland Ecuador, the nation they belong to.
The islands may be located at 89°16'-1°92°01'W, 1°40'N, and 1°36’S. The chain’s islands, including Volcán Wolf and Volcán Ecuador on Isla Isabela, straddle the equator and are situated in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Espaola Island, the archipelago’s southernmost islet, and Darwin Island, its northernmost, are separated by a distance of 220 km.
However, the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) regards them as being entirely in the South Pacific Ocean. 7,880 km2 (3,040 sq mi) of land and 45,000 km2 (17,000 sq mi) of the ocean make up the Galápagos Archipelago. Nearly three-quarters of the Galápagos’ total land area is made up by the biggest of the islands, Isabela, which has a surface area of 2,250 square miles (5,800 km2)[13]. The highest peak is Volcán Wolf on Isabela, which rises 1,707 m (5,600 ft) above sea level.
The group consists of 107 rocks and islets in addition to 18 major islands and 3 smaller islands. The Galapagos Triple Junction is where the islands are situated. The archipelago is situated on the Nazca Plate, a tectonic plate that is subducting under the South American Plate at a pace of around 2.5 inches (6.4 cm) per year and migrating east-southeast.
It is also situated on the Galápagos hotspot, where volcanoes are being formed as the Earth’s crust is melting there from below due to a mantle plume. Here, the first islands began to emerge at least 8 million years ago and perhaps even 90 million years ago.
The newest islands, Isabela and Fernandina, are still forming while the earlier islands, which were farther from the mantle plume, have submerged beneath the water. Lava from the Fernandina volcano began to flow into its central crater and onto the island’s beach in April 2009.
One of the most active volcanoes in the Galapagos archipelago and one of the five on Isabela, Sierra Negra, started erupting for the first time since 2005 in late June 2018. Lava flows reached the coast, forcing the evacuation of roughly fifty locals and limiting visitor accessibility.
Climate
Despite being on the equator, the islands frequently experience drizzle throughout the majority of the year because the Humboldt Current transports chilly water to them. El Nio occurrences, which happen about every 3 to 7 years and are characterized by warm sea surface temperatures, a rise in sea level, increased wave action, and a depletion of nutrients in the ocean, periodically affect the weather.
The gara season lasts from June to November, when the seaside temperature is 22 °C (72 °F), a constant and chilly wind blows from the south and southeast, there are regular drizzles (garas) that last for the majority of the day, and the islands are shrouded in dense fog. The average water and air temperature climbs to 25 °C (77 °F) during the warm season (December to May), when there is also no wind, only infrequent but heavy rain, and bright sunshine.
In the big islands, the weather varies as height rises. As you gain altitude, the temperature progressively drops as the amount of precipitation rises as a result of clouds on the slopes condensing moisture. Precipitation varies greatly from location to location, depending on the height, the position of the islands, the seasons, and other factors.
