Ilhéu Chão

Ilhéu Chão
Chão Islet seen from Madeira Island
Location of Ilhéu Chão
in the Madeira Islands Archipelago, Macaronesia.
Ilhéu Chão is located in Atlantic Ocean
Ilhéu Chão
Ilhéu Chão
Location in the Atlantic Ocean
Geography
Coordinates32°35′05″N 16°32′40″W / 32.58472°N 16.54444°W / 32.58472; -16.54444
ArchipelagoMadeira
Adjacent toAtlantic Ocean
Area1 km2 (0.39 sq mi)
Length1.5 km (0.93 mi)
Width.48 km (0.298 mi)
Highest elevation120 m (390 ft)
Administration
Autonomous RegionMadeira
Demographics
Population0 (2021)
Additional information
Time zone
 • Summer (DST)

Ilhéu Chão is a small islet within the Desertas Islands, a small chain of islands which are in turn within the Madeira archipelago. Chão is located to the southeast of Madeira Island.

The island is approximately 1.5 kilometres (0.93 miles) long by 480 metres (1,570 ft) wide.[1] It has steep cliffs at the shore line and a very flat top[1] formed by lava flows.[2] The average height of the plateau is 100 metres. A narrow channel, 500 metres, separates it from Deserta Grande Island.[1]

There is no fresh water on the island. Attempts to dry farm the island were unsuccessful.[1] There are two structure on the island, a fourteen metre tall lighthouse on the northern end,[3][4] and a one story building about 600 metres south of it.[5]

Ecology

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There are no rabbits on Ilhéu Chão, unlike Madeira Island and Deserta Grande Island. Two dominant plant species, the succulent Mesembryanthemum crystallinum and the alkali seepweed Suaeda vera, are left over from cultivation in the nineteenth century where they were grown to be burned for soda ash manufacture.[1]

Notes and references

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  1. ^ a b c d e Hampshire, Rachel Jane (1984). "A study of the vegetation of the Ponta de São Lourenço in Madeira, Ilhéu Chão and Deserta Grande" (PDF). Boletim do Museu Municipal do Funchal (História Natural). 36: 207–226.
  2. ^ Mazarovich, Aleksandr Olegovich (2023). "Landslide Processes on Volcanic Edifices in the Northeastern Part of the Atlantic Ocean" (PDF). Russian Journal of Pacific Geology. 17 (Supplement): S190–S202, page S196.
  3. ^ "Localização dos Faróis no Arquipélago da Madeira". Faróis de Portugal (in Portuguese). Associação Nacional de Cruzeiros.
  4. ^ "Farol do Ilhéu Chão: Reparações". Revista da Armada (in Portuguese). Marinha Portuguesa. 2021. p. 20.
  5. ^ 32°35′10″N 16°32′42″W / 32.58621563°N 16.54488927°W / 32.58621563; -16.54488927
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