Fernando de Noronha BR
Fernando de Noronha - Landsat Image (S-25-000_2000)
Fernando de Noronha - Map
Arquipelago de Fernando de Noronha (3°52'S.,32°26'W.) lies about 200 miles ENE of Cabo Calcanhar and is of volcanic origin. The group consists of Ilha de Fernando de Noronha, five smaller islands, and a number of islets and rocks.
Ilha de Fernando de Noronha (3°52”S., 32°26'W.), when seen from the offing, appears rugged and mountainous. The island is covered with vegetation. Pico, 323m high, is the highest peak on the island. This barren and rugged mountain stands on the NW side of the island and can be seen in clear weather more than 30 miles. The island gives good radar returns from NE up to 20 miles.
Ponta de Santo Antonio, the NE extremity of the island, is a narrow peninsula about 0.3 mile long. Morro de Santo Antonio, 104m high, stands about 1 mile SW of the point.
Two radio towers are located on this part of the island. A dangerous rock lies 0.4 mile SW of Ponta de Santo Antonio.
Baia de Santo Antonio indents the N portion of the island on the W side of Ponta de Santo Antonio. A fort is located on the S shore of the bay. The fort has a signal station.
Morro do Frances, 198m high, stands about 1 mile S of Ponta de Santo Antonio. Pontinha, the E extremity of the island, lies about 0.5 mile ESE of Morro do Frances. Between Morro do Frances, Morro de Santo Antonio, and Pico is a plateau on which a village is situated. The prominent buildings of a prison comprise a large part of the village.
Morro do Espinhaco, 223m high, stands on the SE part of the island about 1 mile SSE of Pico. An emergency landing field for large aircraft is located between Morro do Espinhaco, Pico, and the hills in the SW part of the island.
An aeronautical radiobeacon is located near the SE corner of the landing field. An aviation light is shown from Morro do Pico. Ponta da Sapata, the SW extremity of the island, a narrow peninsula about 0.5 mile long. There is a natural tunnel on the peninsula.
Alto da Bandeira, 193m high and marked by a light, stands less than 1 mile E of the point. A rock, awash, lies 0.3 mile W of Ponta da Sapata. Other rocks, awash, have been reported to lie 0.4 and 0.8 mile S of Ponta da Sapata.
Ilha Rata (3°49'S., 32°23'W.), the largest of the smaller islands, lies about 1 mile NE of Ponta de Santo Antonio. A narrow channel with a depth of 7m lies between Ilha Rata and Ilha do Meio, close SW. The channels between the other islands of the group are foul.
A light is shown near the center of Ilha Rata. Ilha Rata should be given a wide berth to allow for the strong currents in the vicinity.
Fernando de Noronha is fringed by reefs, most of which extend less than 0.3 mile from the shore. Several dangerous rocks lie as far as 2 miles off the E, S, and SW sides of the island. A 7.3m shoal, position doubtful, was reported to lie outside the 20m curve about 0.6 mile NNW of Pico.
Tides—Currents.—Arquipelago de Fernand o de Noronha and Atol das Rocas lie within the equatorial current which sets W. Currents setting in other directions are not infrequent. The westerly currents, experienced in these areas, attain rates of up to 2 knots. Occasionally these rates are exceeded.
Anchorage.—Anchorage can be taken in Baia de Santo Antonio. The best anchorage is in 14.6 to 24.0m, sand, about 0.5 mile offshore with Pico bearing 214° and the fort on the S shore of the bay bearing 163°. The anchorage is sheltered from the prevailing SE and E winds. During NE winds, ships anchor closer inshore, in 10.9 to 20m. During N or NW winds, the anchorage is unsafe.
The usual landing place is on a beach, abreast the village, in Baia de Santo Antonio. Landing is made by means of a raft with a raised platform which works with guides around a hawser secured to a buoy. Years ago, the raft and hawser were not seen. In 1990, construction of a L-shaped mole was in progress at position 3°50'S, 32°24'W. Landing is difficult as there is a surf on the beach. A wreck lies near the beach.
Landing can also be made on the NW side of Fernando de Noronha in Enseada do Carreiro de Pedro, about 2 miles ENE of Ponta da Sapata. Landing on the S side of Fernando de Noronha is seldom possible. Only with favorable weather conditions can landing be made in Baia do Sueste. This bay lies about 2.2 miles WSW of Pontinha. Landing can be made on Praia do Leao, about 2 miles E of Alto da Bandeira, providing the weather conditions are favorable. A wreck lies near Praia do Leao. There is a good landing place in a cove on the SW side of Ilha Rata. The area surrounding Ilha de Fernando de Noronha constitutes the Fernando de Noronha Marine National Park. Anchorage, hunting and fishing and any disturbance of the environment are prohibited in this area.
(SD Pub 124)
Fernando de Noronha [1468] Group: Fernando de Noronha Country: Brazil - Fernando de Noronha Lat: 3.83º S Long : 32.42º W Area: 18.4 sq. km Altitude: 60 m Depth to nearest land: 4000 m Nearest island: 150 km group: 350 km Nearest continent: South America Distance: 350 km Isolation Index: 50 ISLAND TYPE: volcanic with raised coral Natural Protection Indicator: 0 GEOLOGY/SOILS: Long narrow island 8 by 3 km, with undulating plateau at about 60 m elevation rising to the west; cliffs along western coastline with sandy beaches, extensive sand dunes in east; freshwater lake in south-west, small springs and streams dry up in dry season December-February. Weathered phonolytic rocks and overlying basalts, raised coral up to 30 m thick, fertile soil from bird guano deposits. CLIMATE: tropical mean 26.8øC WATER BALANCE: dry in Dec.-Feb. CATASTROPHIC THREATS: drought Threat Indicator: 1 ECOSYSTEMS: Number of Ecosystems - Terrestrial: 4 Marine: 4 Formerly forested, but all forests secondary by end of 19th century, freshwater lake, streams; tidal pool at Saco de Atalaia, sand dunes, beaches, rocky shore, rich coral encrustations with 12 species to 15 m Forest
| SPECIES NUMBERS: | Total | Endemic | Threatened (EVRI) |
| Plants | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| Butterflies | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Land snails | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rept/Amphib | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Land birds | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Mammals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
UNEP Islands Directory - Fernando de Noronha Island
The source for our additional information is a Wikipedia article about the island group. It points out all of the fascinating facts associated with this group of islands. They recently celebrated their 500th birthday. The islands sound delightful. They would be a wonderful get-away to rest, relax and get your feet wet in the Atlantic.
This map underwent a different process. I did almost all of the digitizing using Marplot. I imported an image of the island group. Georeferenced it using NGA PGS vectors to position properly. I then did touch-up work in Global Mapper. Finally did the final work back in Marplot. I did not use internet map sources to place the names of island features or settlements. My goal is to create a shoreline that tracks Landsat image shorelines as precisely as possible. And I did it!
