ISLANDS

HOW ARE ISLANDS FORMED?

• They break off of continents
• Magma rises from a hotspot and then cools off to form an island
• When skeletal material of corals piles up over years and years.
• Divergent boundaries opens up which allows magma to rise and cool

VIDEO TIME

ISLAND IMPACT ON HUMANS

• Provides places to live
• Great Vacation Spots
• Can have great soil to grow different kinds of food

HUMAN IMPACT ON ISLANDS

• The movement of humans to islands has led to rapid extinction of native island species
• This could be from hunting, habitat destruction, or introduced species.
• Humans have introduce non native species that have become a new predator/prey
• This could cause extinction due to the amount of predators for one species.
• Also could cause competition towards two or more species for its main food source

TYPES OF ISLANDS

CONTINENTAL

• Bodies of land that are right next to the continental shelf
• Examples:
• Long Island (off New York)
• Sicily (off Europe)
• Sumatra (off Asia)

OCEANIC

• Bodies of land surrounded by water that are far from continents.
• They are generally created by volcano or hotspots.
• Volcanos create islands through subduction.
• Examples of these islands are the Mariana Islands.
• Hotspots form islands like the Hawaii Islands.

ISLAND ANIMALS

• Can have a wide variety of species
• Island animals can live in a biodiversity hotspot
• Islands can have reptiles, birds, and mammals
• Also thousands of species of fish are in the surrounding waters

FACTS

• There are over 100,000 islands on earth
• Whe sea levels are high, some small islands disappear
• The most populated island is Java, Indonesia with over 130,000,000 people
• The least populated is Pitcairn Island, with only 48 people