The Galapagos Islands

The Galapagos Islands were formed about 3-5 million years ago. They are the tips of gigantic undersea volcanoes and the area is one of the world's most active volcanic regions. Some of the volcanoes are still active and there have been over 50 eruptions in the last 200 years. Each island is a volcano, except Isabela, which is made up of 6 volcanoes.

Do you know how many islands form the Galapagos? Click here for the answer.

Would you like to find out more about the volcanic formations found on these islands? Then click here!

Climate

As the islands are so isolated the climate is determined almost entirely by ocean currents, so the wind has a major effect on the islands.

El Nino Phenomenon - This occurs when there are no SE tradewinds to push the cold current (called the Humboldt current). As a result, no cooling takes place, which means that there is no "upwelling" and therefore the water temperature rises. Because there is no light at the bottom of the ocean, and light is needed for growth, this causes a break in the food chain. The lack of food then becomes a major problem, resulting in the death of hundreds of animals.

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