São Miguel Island
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
São Miguel Island (pron. IPA: [sɐ̃ũ mi'gɛɫ]; Portuguese for Saint Michael), nickname "Green Island", is the largest and most populous of the Azores Islands. The island covers 759 km² (293 sq mi) and has around 140,000 inhabitants (called Micaelenses); the largest town is Ponta Delgada, with about 30,000 inhabitants.
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[edit] Geography
São Miguel is 90 km from east to west, and between 8 and 15 km wide. Named the "Green (Verde) Island", São Miguel is largely covered with fields and meadows in the lowlands, and laurisilva forests in the hills. Geysers and hot springs (caldeiras) are spread over the island, which is composed of an old solid mass that stretches from Povoação to Nordeste. São Miguel has 3 stratovolcanoes and caldeiras, Sete Cidades, Agua de Pau and Furnas. The volcanic masses are connected between the alignments of the cone-like mass that are made up of peaks.
The peak area which is located between Sete Cidades and Fogo is composed of 270 monogenic volcanoes. They are primarily made up of basaltic cones which were formed during Strombolian and Hawaiian-style eruptions. It is the most recent area of the island. The youngest volcanoes are relatively well dated. It is possible to count 19 eruptions which have occurred 3,000 years ago. One eruption was historical and is known as Fogo 2, it occurred in 1652.
[edit] Cities and towns:
- Ponta Delgada
- Ribeira Grande
- Furnas
- Sete Cidades
- Villa de Rabo de Peixe
[edit] Municipalities
[edit] History
São Miguel was the first of the Azores islands to be colonised, by the Portuguese in 1433.
Originally, São Miguel was two islands. In 1563, the island was joined by a volcanic eruption.
For geological and historical reasons São Miguel is mentioned as the location of the mythical island of Ogygia.
[edit] References
- Scarth, Alwyn; Tanguy, Jean-Claude (2001). Volcanoes of Europe. Oxford University Press, 243 pp. ISBN 0-19-521754-3.
- Global Volcanism Program: Azores
[edit] External links
1 Sovereignity over territories in Antarctica currently suspended under the Antarctic Treaty System.
