Trindade and Martim Vaz
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Martin Vaz Islands
The islands of Trindade (occasionally called Trinidad) and Martim Vaz (also called Martin Vaz), which are located 715 km East of Vitória in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, belong to the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo. The islands, 10.4 km2 in area, are uninhabited, except for a garrison of the Brazilian Navy, 32 strong. The group consists of Ilha Trindade, by far the largest island with an area of 10.1 km2, and Ilhas de Martim Vaz 47 km further East, with an aggregate area of just 0.3 km2 (30 hectares).
The islands are of volcanic origin and have rugged terrain. They are largely barren, except the Southern part of Ilha Trindade. They were discovered in 1502 by Portuguese explorer João da Nova and stayed Portuguese until they became part of Brazil at its independence. From 1890 to 1896, Trindade was occupied by the United Kingdom, until an accord with Brazil was reached.
The individual islands with their respective locations are given in the following:
- Ilha Trindade, at
- Ilhas de Martim Vaz, at
- Ilha do Norte, at , 300 meters NNW of Ilha da racha, 75 meters high
- Ilha da Racha (Ilha Martim Vaz), at , 175 meters high near the northwest end. The shores are strewn with boulders.
- Ilote de Angulha, a flat circular rock, is 200 off the northwest end of Ilha da Racha, 60 meters high
- Ilha do Sul, at , 1 600 meters south of Ilha da Racha. It is a rocky pinnacle. Ilha do Sul is the Easternmost point of Brazil.
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[edit] Trindade
| Trindade | |
|---|---|
| Elevation: | 600+ m (1,968 feet) |
| Coordinates: | |
| Location: | Atlantic ocean |
| Range: | |
| Type: | Stratovolcano |
The small island of Trindade, with an area of 10.3 km2, lies at the eastern end of an E-W-trending chain of submarine volcanoes and guyots extending about 1100 km from the continental shelf off the Brazilian coast. The island lies more than halfway between Brazil and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge near the eastern end of the submarine Vitória-Trindade Ridge.
Trindade is a mountainous, dissected volcanic island with numerous phonolitic lava domes and steep-sided volcanic plugs. The highest summit is Pico Desejado, near the center, about 600 meters high. Pico Monumento, a remarkable peak in the form of a slightly inclined cylinder, rises from the west coast. The youngest volcanism, at Vulcao de Paredao on the SE tip of the island, constructed a pyroclastic cone with lava flows that are no older than the Holocene (Almeida, 1961). Remnants of the crater of the 200-m-high cinder cone are still preserved. Lava flows traveled from the cone to the north, where they form an irregular shoreline and offshore islands. Smaller volcanic centers of the latest volcanic stage are found in the Morro Vermelho area in the south-central part of the island.
There is a small settlement in the north on Enseada dos Portugueses, supporting a garrison of the Brazilian Navy, 32 strong.
[edit] History
The Trindade and Martin Vaz Islands were discovered in 1502 by Portuguese navigators, and, along with Brazil, became part of the Portuguese ultramarine domain.
In 1895, the English again tried to take possession of this strategic position in the Atlantic. However, Brazilian diplomatic efforts, along with indispensable Portuguese support, reinstated the Trindade Island to Brazilian sovereignty.
In order to clearly demonstrate sovereignty over the island, now part of the State of Espírito Santo, a landmark was built on January 24, 1897. Nowadays, Brazilian presence is marked by a permanent Brazilian Navy base on the main island.
Many visitors have been there, the most famous of them was the English astronomer Edmund Halley, who took possession of the Island on behalf of the British Monarchy in 1700.
[edit] The Cruise of the Alerte
In 1889 Edward Frederick Knight sailed to Trindade in a 64 foot yawl named the Alerte. He wrote the book The Cruise of the Alerte about his journey with detailed descriptions of Trindade.
Arthur Ransome used the descriptions from Knight's book as a basis for Crab Island in his book Peter Duck, except that he set the island further north in the Caribbean Sea.
[edit] Sources
- Siebert, L. and T. Simkin (2002-). Volcanoes of the World: an Illustrated Catalog of Holocene Volcanoes and their Eruptions. Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program Digital Information Series, GVP-3. URL: http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/
