earth science

Isabela Island (Galápagos)

Isabela Island (Galápagos) is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Isabela Island (Galápagos) rather than just read about it. In short: Isabela Island (Spanish: Isla Isabela) is the largest of the Galápagos Islands, with an area of 4,586 km2 (1,771 sq mi) and a length of 100 km (62 mi). By itself, it is larger than all the other islands in the chain combined, and it has a little under 2,000 permanent inhabitants.

Key takeaways

Isabela Island (Galápagos) belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Isabela Island (Galápagos) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Isabela Island (Galápagos) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Isabela Island (Spanish: Isla Isabela) is the largest of the Galápagos Islands, with an area of 4,586 km2 (1,771 sq mi) and a length of 100 km (62 mi). By itself, it is larger than all the other islands in the chain combined, and it has a little under 2,000 permanent inhabitants. The island straddles the equator.

Names The original Spanish name of Isabela ([isaˈβela]) was Santa Isabela Island (Isla Santa Isabela or Ysla Santa Ysabel) in honor of the Aragonese Queen Elizabeth of Portugal, who was canonized by Pope Urban VIII on 24 June 1626. When the name was formally changed to Isabela Island in 1892 as part of Ecuador's quadricentennial celebration of Columbus's first voyage, its eponym changed to Columbus's patron Queen Isabella I of Castile. Isabela and nearby Fernandina Island—honoring Isabella's husband Ferdinand II of Aragon—also preserve the names bestowed on the third and fourth islands encountered by Columbus during his voyage. The former English name Duke of Albemarl's Island or Albemarle Island was bestowed by English buccaneer Ambrose Cowley in 1684 in honor of Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle.

Geography Isabela Island is the largest of the Galápagos Islands, with an area of 4,586 km2 (1,771 sq mi) and a length of 100 km (62 mi). Almost four times larger than Santa Cruz, the second largest of the archipelago, Isabela is larger than every other island in the Galápagos combined.

Geology

One of the youngest islands, Isabela is located on the western edge of the archipelago near the Galápagos hotspot. At approximately 1 million years old, the seahorse-shaped island was formed by the merger of six shield volcanoes; Alcedo, Cerro Azul, Darwin, Ecuador, Sierra Negra, and Wolf. All of these volcanoes except Ecuador are still active, making it one of the most volcanically active places on earth. Two of the volcanoes, Volcan Ecuador and Volcan Wolf (the island's highest point with an elevation of 1,707 m [5,600 ft]), lie directly on the equator. The island is primarily noted for its geology, providing excellent examples of a geologic occurrence that created the Galápagos Islands including uplifts at Urbina Bay and the Bolivar Channel, tuff cones at Tagus Cove, and Pulmace on Alcedo and Sierra Negra, one of the most active volcanoes in the world.

Wildlife

Isabela is also interesting for its flora and fauna. The young island does not follow the vegetation zones of the other islands. The relatively new lava fields and surrounding soils have not developed the sufficient nutrients required to support the varied life zones found on other islands. Another obvious difference occurs on Volcan Wolf and Cerro Azul; these volcanoes loft above the cloud cover and are arid on top. Isabela's rich bird, animal and marine life is beyond compare. Isabela is home to more wild tortoises than all the other islands. Isabela's large size and notable topography created barriers for the slow-moving tortoises; apparently the creatures were unable to cross lava flows and other obstacles, causing several different sub-species of tortoise to develop. Today, tortoises roam free in the calderas of Alcedo, Wolf, Cerro Azul, Darwin, and Sierra Negra. Introduced goats multiplied to over 100,000, but were eradicated by the Galápagos National Park Service and the Charles Darwin Foundation in 2006-2007. Since then, the vegetation has recovered greatly. Other noted species include penguins, cormorants, marine iguanas, boobies, pelicans, Sally Lightfoot crabs, Galápagos land iguanas, Darwin's finches, Galápagos hawks, Galápagos doves, and very interesting lowland vegetation. The west coast of Isabela in the Bolivar Channel is the best place in Galápagos for viewing whales and dolphin.

History The settlements of Puerto Villamil and Santo Tomás were founded in 1893. By 1905, the population of the island was 200. Exports at the time were sulfur mined from fumaroles and lime made from coral. Tortoises were used for meat and oil. Puerto Villamil, the third-largest settlement of the archipelago, is located at the southeastern tip of the island.

Attractions The island's attractions include the Wall of Tears (el Muro de las Lágrimas), built by prisoners when the island was a penal colony, and the Flamingo Lagoon, named for the flamingos found there. Both are on the south of the island.

See also List of volcanoes in Ecuador Volcanoes of the Galápagos Islands

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

Isabela Island (Galápagos) travel guide from Wikivoyage Galapagos Conservancy

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Isabela Island (Galápagos)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Isabela Island (Galápagos) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Isabela Island (Galápagos) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Isabela Island (Galápagos) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Isabela Island (Galápagos)

In research: Isabela Island (Galápagos) appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Isabela Island (Galápagos) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Isabela Island (Galápagos) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Active volcanoes, Hotspot volcanoes, Islands of the Galápagos Islands, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Isabela Island (Galápagos) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Isabela Island (Galápagos) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Isabela Island (Galápagos) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Isabela Island (Galápagos) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Isabela Island (Galápagos) in simple terms?

Why does Isabela Island (Galápagos) matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Isabela Island (Galápagos)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Isabela Island (Galápagos).