.jpg) Brazilian Navy scientific station and lighthouse of the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago | |
 | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Atlantic Ocean |
| Coordinates | 00°55′1″N29°20′45″W / 0.91694°N 29.34583°W /0.91694; -29.34583 |
| Archipelago | Arquipélago de São Pedro e São Paulo |
| Total islands | 15[1] |
| Major islands | Belmonte, Challenger, Nordeste, Cabral, South |
| Area | 1.5 ha (3.7 acres)[1] |
| Highest elevation | 17 m (56 ft)[1] |
| Administration | |
Brazil | |
| Region | Northeast |
| State | Pernambuco |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 4[2] |
| Additional information | |
| Official website | www |
TheSaint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago (Portuguese:Arquipélago de São Pedro e São Paulo[ɐʁkiˈpɛlɐgudʒisɐ̃wˈpedɾwisɐ̃wˈpawlu]) is a group of 15 smallislets and rocks in the centralequatorialAtlantic Ocean.[3] It lies in theIntertropical Convergence Zone, a region of the Atlantic characterized by low average winds punctuated with local thunderstorms. It lies about 510 nmi (940 km; 590 mi) from the nearest point of mainlandSouth America (the northeasternBrazilian coastal town ofTouros); 625 km (388 mi) northeast of the archipelago ofFernando de Noronha; 990 km (620 mi) from the city ofNatal; and 1,824 km (1,133 mi) from the west coast ofAfrica. Administratively, the archipelago belongs toBrazil and is part of the special "state district" (Portuguese:distrito estadual) of Fernando de Noronha, in thestate ofPernambuco, in spite of the very large distance between the two island groups and the even larger distance to the state mainland.
In 1986, the archipelago was designated an environmentallyprotected area.[4] This is now part of theFernando de Noronha Environmental Protection Area.[5] Since 1998, theBrazilian Navy has maintained a permanently staffed research facility on the islands.[2] The main economic activity around the islets istuna fishing.
On April 20, 1511, aPortuguese Navy fleet composed of sixcaravels under the command of CaptainGarcia de Noronha discovered the islets by accident while on their journey toIndia. While navigating in the open sea late at night, theSaint Peter caravel, under the command of CaptainManuel de Castro Alcoforado, crashed against the islets. The crew was rescued by theSaint Paul caravel, forming the name given to the islets.[6]
In December 1799, the American captainAmasa Delano landed on the islets. He spent an afternoon and one night on the rocks.[7]
On the morning of February 16, 1832, the rocks were visited byCharles Darwin on the first leg of hisvoyage on HMSBeagle around the world. Darwin listed all thefauna he could find, noting that not a single plant or even a lichen could be found on the island.
The rocks, then called "St. Paul's Rocks", were visited byJames Clark Ross on 29 November 1839. He was in charge of anexpedition to the Antarctic regions with two vessels,HMSErebus andHMSTerror.Robert McCormick gave some geological and biological remarks on St. Paul's Rocks in the report on the expedition.[8]
Another famous person to visit the rocks wasErnest Shackleton, on hislast expedition toAntarctica (1921–1922).[6]
In 1942, duringWorld War II, the islets were declared to be part of the Federal Territory ofFernando de Noronha (which also included theRocas Atoll).
In early 1960, the rocks served as the starting-point and terminus for thefirst submerged circumnavigation of the world by the Americannuclear-powered submarineUSS Triton.[9]
In 1982 a wind anemometer with satellite telemetry reporting via GOES EAST satellite was installed by a team from Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory with help from the Francais Ocean Climat Atlantique (FOCAL) and the Captain and crew of the N/O CAPRICORNE. This installation was supported by National Science Foundation Grant #OCE 82–09982.
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On June 25, 1998, theBrazilian Navy inaugurated the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago Scientific Station (Portuguese:Estação Científica do Arquipélago de São Pedro e São Paulo; ECASPSP). The station is staffed with fourresearchers, who are rotated in and out every 15 days.[10] By maintaining permanent occupation of the archipelago, the Brazilian Navy extendsBrazil's Exclusive Economic Zone,territorial waters andairspace into the North Atlantic Ocean.[11]
On June 5, 2006, the archipelago was shaken by anearthquake ofmagnitude 6.0 (withepicenter about 140 km to the east).[12] The strongtidal surge following the earthquake caused the battery compartment to crash against the station's outer wall, allowing sea water to flood the station. The four researchers who were on the archipelago took shelter in the lighthouse, while maintaining constant contact with the Brazilian Navy. Afishing vessel located nearby rescued the researchers, who were then transferred to a Brazilian Navypatrol boat. The incident caused considerable damage to the station and equipment.[13] The station was repaired on September 9–11, 2006, and became operational shortly after.[14]
In 2007, the Brazilian Navy started to build a new scientific station on the archipelago.[10] Construction began on July 24, 2007, and was completed on June 25, 2008.[10] The new station was built withseismic isolation, and is considerably larger and better equipped than the previous one.[15] The station is composed of a main building – equipped withreverse osmosis salt waterdesalination system,photovoltaics system andsatellite communications system; deposits and a mooring dock.[3][16]
The Brazilian Navy also maintains alighthouse, a focal light at 29 m above average sea level of 18 m lower, where the device was mounted, total height of 10.95 m, Base 2.5 m Cement, Tower 7.95 m, 3 Section of 2.65 m, Antenna 0,5 m, on the archipelago (ARLHS: SPP-001), built in 1995 to replace a previous one from 1930.[6][17] Mast Communication Besides of 15 m High.
On June 1, 2009,Air France Flight 447, anAirbus A330-200 jetlineren route fromRio de Janeiro toParis, crashed in theAtlantic Ocean near the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago, killing all 228 people on board. Bodies and fragments of the aircraft were found just northwest of the archipelago.[18]
The Saint Peter and Saint Paul Rocks are in the Atlantic Ocean, 100 km (62 mi) north of theEquator, and are the only group of Brazilian oceanic islets in theNorthern Hemisphere. The nearest point in the Brazilian coast, is Cabo do Calcanhar,Rio Grande do Norte, about 1,010 kilometres (630 mi) from the archipelago. The total emerged area is about 4.2 acres (1.7 ha) and the maximum land elevation is 18 m (59 ft), on Nordeste Island. The archipelago is composed of several rocks, five small rocky islets and four larger islets:[6][19]
Their base is over 3,650 metres (11,980 ft) below sea level.[6]
None of the islets have a permanentfresh water supply available.[6]
The islets exposeserpentinized abyssalmantleperidotite andkaersutite-bearing ultramaficmylonite atop the world's highest and yet only second-largestmegamullion (after theParece Vela megamullion underOkinotorishima in thePacific Ocean). This grouping is the sole location in the Atlantic Ocean where the abyssal mantle is exposed above sea level.[6] Darwin noted in 1832 that, unusually, these small islands were not volcanic, but were instead formed by a geologic uplift.[6]
The São Pedro and São Paulo Archipelago is located in the expansion zone between the South American Plate and the African Plate. The São Paulo Transform Fault System is one of the largest transform faults in the Atlantic Ocean., in which there is a total of 630 km of discontinuity in the segments of the mid-ocean chain. This is one of the deepest regions of the Atlantic Ocean and some locations are over 5,000 meters deep. The abyssal morphology shows that the Archipelago is located at the top of an underwater morphological elevation, with a length of 100 km, a width of 20 km and an approximate height of 3,800 meters from the ocean floor, called the Peridotitic Chain of São Pedro and São Paul. Unlike submarine volcanoes, this ledge consists of two tabular elevations oriented east–west, presenting a shape similar toBrachiosaurus dinosaur whose head faces east. On the flanks of the Archipelago, from sea level to a depth of 1,000 meters, high angle slopes occur, around 50º inclination. There is no extensive submarine platform of small depth around the Archipelago. To the south of the Archipelago there is a vertical cliff with a height greater than 2000 meters. These unstable submarine morphologies suggest that the uplift of the Archipelago originated from a recent tectonism, which continues until the present.
Only the largest of the islets, Belmonte, is vegetated with mosses and grasses. The other rocks are mostly barren, except for some sea algae and fungi that can tolerate the salt spray. The rocks are inhabited byseabirds, including thebrown booby (Sula leucogaster),brown noddy (Anous stolidus), andblack noddy (Anous minutus), as well ascrabs (Grapsus grapsus),insects, andspiders.[20]
The islands are home to over 100 reef fishes, about 10% of which are foundnowhere else in the world, including the extremely colorfulTosanoides aphrodite.[19][21]
On his landing on the islands in 1832 Darwin found two birds, abooby and a brown noddy, a large crab that stole the fish intended for chicks, a fly that lived on the booby and a parasitic tick. He found a moth that lived on feathers, a beetle, a woodlouse that lived on dung, and numerous spiders that he thought lived on scavengers of the waterfowl. Darwin felt that these rocks represented how life first took hold on a newly formed outcrop.[22]
St. Paul's Rocks are mentioned twice in Frank T. Bullen's 1898 semi-autobiographical travel narrative 'The Cruise of the Cachalot'.
The 1973 novelHMS Surprise byPatrick O'Brian describes a fictitious visit to one of the islands (called "St Paul's Rock" in the novel) by the character Dr Stephen Maturin. The specimens gathered by Maturin on the island are based on those historically collected by Darwin.
