earth science

Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago

Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago 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 Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago rather than just read about it. In short: The Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago (Portuguese: Arquipélago de São Pedro e São Paulo [ɐʁkiˈpɛlɐgu dʒi sɐ̃w ˈpedɾwi sɐ̃w ˈpawlu]) is a group of 15 small islets and rocks in the central equatorial Atlantic Ocean. It lies in the Intertropical Convergence Zone, a region of the Atlantic characterized by low average winds punctuated with local thunderstorms.

Key takeaways

Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago 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 Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago (Portuguese: Arquipélago de São Pedro e São Paulo [ɐʁkiˈpɛlɐgu dʒi sɐ̃w ˈpedɾwi sɐ̃w ˈpawlu]) is a group of 15 small islets and rocks in the central equatorial Atlantic Ocean. It lies in the Intertropical 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 mainland South America (the northeastern Brazilian coastal town of Touros); 625 km (388 mi) northeast of the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha; 990 km (620 mi) from the city of Natal; and 1,824 km (1,133 mi) from the west coast of Africa. Administratively, the archipelago belongs to Brazil and is part of the special "state district" (Portuguese: distrito estadual) of Fernando de Noronha, in the state of Pernambuco, 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 environmentally protected area. This is now part of the Fernando de Noronha Environmental Protection Area. Since 1998, the Brazilian Navy has maintained a permanently staffed research facility on the islands. The main economic activity around the islets is tuna fishing.

History

On April 20, 1511, a Portuguese Navy fleet composed of six caravels under the command of Captain Garcia de Noronha discovered the islets by accident while on their journey to India. While navigating in the open sea late at night, the Saint Peter caravel, under the command of Captain Manuel de Castro Alcoforado, crashed against the islets. The crew was rescued by the Saint Paul caravel, forming the name given to the islets. In December 1799, the American captain Amasa Delano landed on the islets. He spent an afternoon and one night on the rocks. On the morning of February 16, 1832, the rocks were visited by Charles Darwin on the first leg of his voyage on HMS Beagle around the world. Darwin listed all the fauna 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 by James Clark Ross on 29 November 1839. He was in charge of an expedition to the Antarctic regions with two vessels, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. Robert McCormick gave some geological and biological remarks on St. Paul's Rocks in the report on the expedition. Another famous person to visit the rocks was Ernest Shackleton, on his last expedition to Antarctica (1921–1922). In 1942, during World War II, the islets were declared to be part of the Federal Territory of Fernando de Noronha (which also included the Rocas Atoll). In early 1960, the rocks served as the starting-point and terminus for the first submerged circumnavigation of the world by the American nuclear-powered submarine USS Triton. 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.

Scientific station

On June 25, 1998, the Brazilian 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 four researchers, who are rotated in and out every 15 days. By maintaining permanent occupation of the archipelago, the Brazilian Navy extends Brazil's Exclusive Economic Zone, territorial waters and airspace into the North Atlantic Ocean. On June 5, 2006, the archipelago was shaken by an earthquake of magnitude 6.0 (with epicenter about 140 km to the east). The strong tidal 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. A fishing vessel located nearby rescued the researchers, who were then transferred to a Brazilian Navy patrol boat. The incident caused considerable damage to the station and equipment. The station was repaired on September 9–11, 2006, and became operational shortly after. In 2007, the Brazilian Navy started to build a new scientific station on the archipelago. Construction began on July 24, 2007, and was completed on June 25, 2008. The new station was built with seismic isolation, and is considerably larger and better equipped than the previous one. The station is composed of a main building – equipped with reverse osmosis salt water desalination system, photovoltaics system and satellite communications system; deposits and a mooring dock. The Brazilian Navy also maintains a lighthouse, 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. Mast Communication Besides of 15 m High.

Air France Flight 447

On June 1, 2009, Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330-200 jetliner en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, crashed in the Atlantic 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.

Geography The Saint Peter and Saint Paul Rocks are in the Atlantic Ocean, 100 km (62 mi) north of the Equator, and are the only group of Brazilian oceanic islets in the Northern 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:

Belmonte Islet: 5,380 square metres (1.33 acres) Challenger Islet (also known as São Paulo): 3,000 square metres (0.74 acres) Nordeste Islet (also known as São Pedro): 1,440 square metres (0.36 acres) Cabral Islet: 1,170 square metres (0.29 acres) South Islet: 943 square metres (0.233 acres). Their base is over 3,650 metres (11,980 ft) below sea level. None of the islets have a permanent fresh water supply available.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago 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 Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago 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 Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago 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 Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago

In research: Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago 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 Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago 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: Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Archipelagoes of Brazil, Archipelagoes of the Atlantic Ocean, Deserts and xeric shrublands, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago 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 Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago 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.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago in simple terms?

Why does Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago 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 Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago?

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 Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago.