What is the difference between an archipelago and an atoll




















These island clusters are usually formed as a result of volcanic activity. Other reasons for their appearance include land elevation, erosion and deposition. Isle or island is the situation when a small part of land is surrounded by water from all sides. If island is present on coral reef it is called as cay and if it surrounds a lagoon we call it atoll.

If a piece of land is surrounded by water from three sides but connected with main land from one side, it is called peninsula. A group of islands is called archipelago and continent is different from all of them, as it is a very large land mass. Subscribe via RSS Home. Cay Cay is small Sandy Island, which is formed on the surface of coral reefs.

Peninsula A piece of land which is surrounded by water from three sides, but connected with main land from one side is called as peninsula. Atoll When a coral island surrounds a lagoon, it is called as Atoll. Isle and Island Isle and Island are the same.

Continent There are seen pieces of very large land masses on the surface of earth. The Kon-Tiki , probably the most famous raft in history, became one of these atoll casualties. The Kon-Tiki was a large balsa raft built and sailed by explorer Thor Heyerdahl and his crew in The most difficult challenge of the journey was not the waves, current s, or trade wind s of the open ocean.

It was the atolls of Polynesia, the final part of their journey. The quick-moving currents around atolls prevented the Kon-Tiki from docking at the first Polynesian island it encountered. It wrecked on the shallow coral of the second, Raroia atoll. Raroia was uninhabited, but nearby native islanders in canoes eventually rescued the Europeans on the washed-up wreck.

The Kon-Tiki was eventually hauled out of Raroia, but atoll wrecks are popular dive sites throughout the Pacific. Atolls are often uninhabited "desert" islands. Desert does not refer to the islands' climate, but their "deserted" or uninhabited status. Many are remote and difficult to reach.

In the 20th century, this isolation made them attractive as testing sites for nuclear weapon s from the United States, Britain, and France. The Pacific Proving Grounds, a series of 2, atolls and other islands under U. France continued nuclear testing on the atoll of Moruroa until Nations throughout Polynesia, including the " nuclear-free zone " of New Zealand, protested extended nuclear testing.

Reefs were being destroyed, and some tests dropped toxic fallout onto nearby inhabited islands. After Castle Bravo, the first hydrogen bomb test, the U.

The same elements that make atolls popular for nuclear testing also make them attractive to tourists. Atolls are sparse ly populated, low-lying islands whose white, sandy beaches and placid lagoons are ideally suited to the tourism industry. Tourism is a key factor in both the Maldivian and Kiritbati economies.

Many atolls, however, have few tourists and are among the world's underdeveloped countries. Atolls have few natural resource s. Soil quality on atolls is very poor, and erosion is a constant threat.

Most native residents on atolls practice subsistence agriculture and fishing. Almost all food and fuel is imported, often at great cost. Fisheries and support for the shipping industry help support communities on remote atolls. Some atoll communities have taken advantage of their equatorial location and established launch sites for low-orbit satellite s. Others have found other sources of revenue. The nation of Tuvalu, for instance, is a series of isolated atolls in the Pacific.

Every year, it receives millions of dollars for use of its ". Atolls, along with sandbars, are among islands with the lowest elevation. They are constantly, naturally at risk from erosion due to wind and waves. Atolls are also at risk from sea level rise. As the the ocean level rises, atolls—and any infrastructure on them—are flooded and may drown altogether. Island nations such as Maldives and Kiribati are fortify ing their atolls by dredging the seafloor.

Sand elevates certain areas and widens others, creating a more stable landmass. Maldives and Kiribati have also taken political measures to protect their citizens from the possibility of atolls sinking beneath the sea.

Maldives often leads international conferences on the impacts of global warming , which is associated with sea level rise.

Trinidad are the southernmost islands of the Caribbean archipelago. An island can be called a subset of an archipelago. Archipelagos are really more beautiful than islands, and as such they are more visited than the islands.

Difference Between Archipelago and Island. Difference Between Similar Terms and Objects. MLA 8 S, Prabhat. Also is there a different classification of a lsland than has just been separated from a continental land mass? Name required. Email required. Please note: comment moderation is enabled and may delay your comment. There is no need to resubmit your comment.

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