OceansArt

Bartholomew Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Named for Lt. David Bartholomew of the British Navy, this small island is located just east of Santiago Island. Desolate Isla Bartolomé is one of the most visited and photographed islands in the Galápagos. Bartolomé is an extinct volcano and has a variety of variably colored volcanic formations, including a tuff cone known as Pinnacle Rock. This large black partially eroded cone was created when lava reached the sea. Contact with seawater resulted in a phreatic explosion. The exploded molten fragments fused together forming a welded tuff. Isla Bartolomé is inhabited by Galápagos Penguins, sea lions, nesting marine turtles, white-tipped reef sharks and a variety of birds.

The Galápagos Islands (Official name: Archipiélago de Colón; other Spanish names: Islas de Colónumio or Islas Galápagos, from galápago, “saddle”—after the shells of saddlebacked Galápagos tortoises) are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator, 965 kilometres (about 600 miles) west of continental Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean (1° S 91° W). The group consists of 13 main islands, 6 smaller islands, and 107 rocks and islets. The islands are located at a geological hot spot, a place where the earth’s crust is being melted from below by a mantle plume, creating volcanos. The oldest island is thought to have formed between 5 and 10 million years ago. The youngest islands, Isabela and Fernandina, are still being formed, with the most recent volcanic eruption in 2005. It is one of the few places in the world without an indigenous population. The Galápagos archipelago is a province of Ecuador, a country in northwestern South America, and the islands are all part of Ecuador’s national park system. They are famed for their vast number of endemic species and the studies by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle that contributed to the inception of Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection.

(Adapted from: Galapagos : Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia)

Click on any picture for a FREE larger version. Read the licensing rules (REVISED) for your needs. There are hundreds of high quality free photos: use the Google/site search engine. See our digital photography tips : DOs and Don’ts;  Choosing a Camera and Accessories , Taking Digital Photos, Downloading Photos, and Editing Photos. Visit  Climate Change Facts to see for yourself if you are at risk from global warming.