EVS-Islands

Clarion Island - Marplot Map With 40-meter Interval Contours (1:35,000)

I had someone checking out my Clarion Island map and I decided to place contours derived from SRTM data. The SRTM data wants to construct contours over water. The entire northern edge of Clarion had contours extending over water. I moved them back onto land, but I doubt if the cliffs on the northern side of the island are as steep as they are shown on this map. Oh well...

Enjoy!

Labels: Global Mapper, island, Marplot, Mexico, Pacific, SRTM

Posted by Mr Minton at 12/16/2006 06:22:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I thought that this was an island that I had already posted.  Turns out that I posted Socorro and San Benedicto Islands, but not Clarion Island.  These three islands make up the Revillagegado Archipelago.  There is a fourth island.  It consists of a cluster of rocks. Roca Partida.

The islands are most frequently visited by fishermen, that is their surrounding waters.  Long-Range fishing boats leave San Diego and head to these islands on long trips (10-days).  The fishermen catch big fish.

Clarion Island is the farthest west of the three main islands.  From east to west you would encounter Socorro, San Benedicto and finally Clarion.  The other two are uninhabited.  Clarion has a small detachment of Mexican military stationed on the island.

Clarion does have some endangered species that were being destroyed by feral cats.  However, after an intensive effort and education the cats have been eradicated.

If you have difficulties reading the Flash presentation, go directly to my Flickr account and check out the set of images with the same name as the title of this post.

Enjoy!

Labels: Digital Globe, EVS, Google Earth, island, Landsat, map, Marplot, Mexico, Pacific, Revillagigedo

Posted by Mr Minton at 12/16/2006 06:20:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

This is a repost of a previous effort. In fact, it is the last of the large islands within the Revillagigedo Archipelago. The water's near this island are frequented by fishermen. The island proper is the site of recent volcanic activity. It is much studied by volcanologists.

My original post had the following comments:

Isla San Benedicto (19°19'N., 110°49'W.), a barren and rocky island, lies 27 miles NNE of Isla Socorro and has two prominent peaks. The tallest peak is 297m high and rises near the S part of the island. When seen from a distance, these two peaks often appear as two distinct islets. Good anchorage can be taken off a small shingle beach located about midway along the E side of the island. Three small but high detached rocks lie within 0.2 mile of the W side of the island. A detached rock, with a least depth of 3m, lies about 0.8 mile W of the N extremity of the island. A shoal, with a depth of 28m, was reported (1963) to lie about 15 miles N of Isla San Benedicto. (SD Pub 153)

Enjoy!

Labels: Digital Globe, EVS, Google Earth, island, Landsat, map, Marplot, Mexico, Pacific, Revillagigedo

Posted by Mr Minton at 12/16/2006 06:15:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Isla Socorro (18°48'N., 110°59'W.), the largest island of the group, rises abruptly from the sea to a summit, 1,130m high. When viewed from seaward, this island has a barren and desolate appearance. Its surface is broken by furrows, small craters, and numerous ravines. The island is covered by a dense growth of cactus and sage with some grass, but the vegetation in general is of a low order. There are lava outcrops in places and lava lines the walls of many of the ravines.

Cabo Regla, the S extremity of the island, consists of a rocky bluff which is surmounted by a hill, 76m high. A small cove, with a rocky beach, lies about 0.5 mile E of the point and a village, with a church, stands on its W side. Two beacons form a range which leads to a boat landing at the head of the cove.

Bahia Braithwaite, entered 0.5 mile NE of the small cove, provides sheltered anchorage, from all except S and E winds, during December to June. Vessels can anchor, in depths of 18 to 20m, sand and shell with rock in places, about 0.3 mile offshore, with the highest peak of the island bearing 335°. This bay can be identified by a rocky beach at its head.

Bahia Cornwallis, entered NW of Cabo Regla, provides shelter from June to December, but vessels must anchor close inshore. The anchorage lies off the first of two white coral beaches to the W of Cabo Regla. Large vessels can anchor, in a depth of 15m, within Caleta Binner, a cove, which lies in the SE part of the bay.

Ensenada Grayson (Caleta Grayson), an inlet, lies 3 miles NW of Cabo Regla and is the location of a freshwater spring. The site is marked by the letter W over an inverted arrow cut into the face of the cliff. Several shallow rocks lie in the approach to this inlet.

Cabo Pearce, the E extremity of Isla Socorro, is dominated by a tableland which stands about 1 mile inland and is 305m high. It is reported that volcanic activity has formed new shoals in this vicinity and towards Bahia Braithwaite, the rock-fringed E extremity of the island. Vessels should navigate with caution.

Cabo Middleton, the N extremity of the island, consists of a low peninsula which is connected to the shore by a neck of sand. Rock Islets, two detached above-water rocks, lie about 1 mile offshore, 1 mile ENE of this point. It is reported that breakers have been sighted extending up to about 0.8 mile W from these rocks.

Anchorage can be taken by small craft within a deep and sheltered bight located at the E side of the cape. A bight located at the W side should be avoided due to several detached rocks lying in the entrance.

Cape Henslow, located 5 miles SW of Cabo Middleton, is the outer extremity of a small peninsula. This cape consists of vertical cliffs, 30m high. Oneal Rock (Piedra Oneal), steep-to and 13m high, lies about 1 mile NNW of the cape and is marked by breakers on its NW and SE sides.

Punta Tosca, the W extremity of Isla Socorro, is located 2.3 miles S of Cape Henslow.

This is a repost of a previous effort.  Socorro Island is the largest of the Revillagigedo Archipelago.  It is the site of recent volcanic activity. I believe there is a bird, the Socorro Island Dove, that is endangered due to feral cats.

Enjoy!

Labels: Digital Globe, EVS, Google Earth, island, Landsat, map, Marplot, Mexico, Pacific, Revillagigedo

Posted by Mr Minton at 12/16/2006 06:10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Tikei Island - Landsat Image S-06-10_2000 (1-25,000)

Tikei Island - Marplot Map (1-25,000)

Tikei Island (14˚58'S., 144˚33'W.) is a small island about 60 miles NE of Aratika. The only landing place is at a small village on the W extremity of the island, and it is difficult. (SD Pub-126)

Tikei Island is a poorly researched island. It is not a typical Tuamotu atoll, but an island. It is a low island that most likely was an atoll many millions of years ago. The lagoon is gone and the island is covered with heavy vegetation.

Enjoy!

Labels: atoll, EVS, France, Global Mapper, island, Landsat, map, Marplot, Pacific, Polynesia, Tuamotus

Posted by Mr Minton at 12/16/2006 03:09:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

First some facts about this small atoll. According to a 1994 Franco-Australian Expedition the lagoon contained within is hypersaline (real salty). Yet, it contains "a high diversity of fish". The theory is that high waves push ocean water into the lagoon bringing in zooplankton and other oceanic fish. In another article from this same expedition the zooplankton within the lagoon was found to be different from the zooplankton found in the ocean off-shore. This would seem to confirm that the lagoon is almost completely isolated from the ocean.

Due to it's uniqueness, Taiaro Atoll is part of the Tuamotu Biosphere Reserve. It, along with five other atolls within the Fakarava Municipality makeup this protected area. The above referenced link also contains a few photos from the atoll.

Finally, there is a copy of a report issued by the 1994 Franco-Australian Expedition that gives the curious reader detailed information about the closed life cycle for some coral fish within the Taiaro Lagoon.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This project took about six hours to complete. I elected to digitize using Google Earth/Digital Globe imagery at 1:1-meter. The resulting map is highly detailed and attempts to make accurate on-land layer determinations. The southern end of the atoll was the most challenging. The reef in this area is complex and difficult to determine whether features are above or below water. This is where "local knowledge" would serve to make the best final layer determinations. Perhaps one day I will make that trip to my mapped islands to provide that "local knowledge" my projects require. Until then, this will have to do.

Enjoy!

Labels: atoll, Digital Globe, EVS, France, Global Mapper, Google Earth, island, Landsat, map, Marplot, Pacific, Polynesia, Tuamotus

Posted by Mr Minton at 12/16/2006 10:11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

My first island was located outside of Mission Bay Amusement Park in a bay across the street.  I think the swimming area was called Bonita Basin (or something similar).  About 30-meters from the shore was this small circular sand island covered with very low scrub brush.  I would wade out to the island until I had only about 10-meters worth of frantic swimming to do.  That island was great.  When I was on it, I felt like I was King of the World.  Nothing could get to me on that island.

There were other islands, most of them real - a small mud island in the San Diego River, the Coronado Islands which I nicknamed the Buffaloes, and Shelter Island which is not really an island, but an artificial peninsula that juts out into San Diego Bay.  There was Treasure Island made real by Wallace Berry and Jackie Cooper, Robinson Crusoe's amazing home and the Eden-like island populated by Swiss Family Robinson.

As I grew older and began to travel, I visited real islands - Buyukada in Turkey, Luzon in the Philippines.  I visited Taiwan, Honshu, England, Wake Island, Oahu and Manhattan.

Lots of islands and a passion for maps has served me well my entire life.  At one home I convinced my wife that a map would look nice on our bedroom wall.  The map turned out to be a 12-foot by 8-foot creation.  It was made up of a series of 1:250,000 series (JOG Charts) of Greece and the Greek Islands.  It was beautiful!

In my Air Force job I worked with maps constantly.  The more detailed, the better the map.  I love quality maps for their information, their consistency and their inherent beauty.  And make that map one of an island and I was in heaven.

For the past four years I have been honing my mapping skills.  I have base imagery (Landsat ETM+) that depicts all of the world's islands, Google Earth and MS Live Search.  I am quite proficient using both of my mapping software packages, Global Mapper and Marplot.  Flickr is where I store my finished images.  Blogger is home to my blogsite.

My constant challenge is to make time to map.  Not to think about projects or to correct past projects, but to map new islands.

Why islands?  Why not!

Islands still fascinate me.  I love the process of selecting a target island, digitizing the various layers and compiling the map in Marplot.

I have been priviledged to visit a number of islands.  I loved the time I spent on those islands.  Now I get to map those islands and others.  I enjoy the time I spend mapping islands.  I feel that my completed projects help to call attention to these special places.  Places that allow us to leave a busy, cluttered world behind.

Labels: EVS, island, map

Posted by Mr Minton at 12/15/2006 03:33:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post