Broutona

Broutona (Russian: о.Броутона; Japanese 武魯頓島; Buroton-tō) is an uninhabited volcanic island located near the northern end of the southern Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwest Pacific Ocean. Its name is derived from William Robert Broughton, a British American ship captain who charted many of the Kurile Islands during his voyages during the 19th century. Its original Ainu name was Makanruru, which translates roughly to “island in a strong current”.

Geology

Broutona is roughly circular, with an area of 7 square kilometres (2.7 sq mi)^[1] It is located approximately 17 kilometers to the northwest of the twin islands of Chirpoy and Brat Chirpoyev.

The island consists of a dormant or extinct stratovolcano, which rises to 801 m (2,628 ft) above sea level. The mountain has not erupted in historic times. The island has steep cliff sides, which can reach heights of 274 m (899 ft) and no sandy beaches, making landing very difficult and dangerous even in calm weather. These cliffs are weak and are easily eroded by the sea.

History

Broutona appears to have never been inhabited. It appears on an official map showing the territories of Matsumae Domain, a feudal domain of Edo period Japan dated 1644, and these holdings were officially confirmed by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1715. Subsequently claimed by the Empire of Russia, sovereignty initially passed to Russia under the terms of the Treaty of Shimoda, but was returned to the Empire of Japan per the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875) along with the rest of the Kurile islands. The island was formerly administered as part of Uruppu District of Nemuro Subprefecture of Hokkaidō. After World War II, the island came under the control of the Soviet Union, and is now administered as part of the Sakhalin Oblast of the Russian Federation.

See also

• List of volcanoes in Russia

References

• Oceandots: Broutona

Further reading

• Gorshkov, G. S. Volcanism and the Upper Mantle Investigations in the Kurile Island Arc. Monographs in geoscience. New York: Plenum Press, 1970. ISBN 0-306-30407-4
• Krasheninnikov, Stepan Petrovich, and James Greive. The History of Kamtschatka and the Kurilski Islands, with the Countries Adjacent. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1963.
• Rees, David. The Soviet Seizure of the Kuriles. New York: Praeger, 1985. ISBN 0-03-002552-4
• Takahashi, Hideki, and Masahiro Ōhara. Biodiversity and Biogeography of the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin. Bulletin of the Hokkaido University Museum, no. 2-. Sapporo, Japan: Hokkaido University Museum, 2004.

Notes