Geography question

[The Sleeper]

Why is Australia not considered an island? Because I heard that Greenland is the biggest Island and I think Australia is bigger than Greenland.

[The Sleeper]

someone answer! I have a hard time sleeping at night as it is!!

[IkeaBoy]

Maybe it isn't.

[The Sleeper]

It has water surrounding it, doesn't it? What else qualifies whether something is an island?

[HedCold]

australia is bigger than greenland. just the way maps are made it distorts it.

It has water surrounding it, doesn't it? What else qualifies whether something is an island?

Africa is an island too then. as to what qualifies an island, i don't know

edit - whoops i read the thread wrong at first. oh well



Edited By HedCold on June 20 2002 at 02:35

[The Sleeper]

australia is bigger than greenland

I said it was, that's the whole point behind my questioning why Australia isn't an island.

Africa is an island too then. as to what qualifies an island, i don't know

Yea, but they have the AIDS

[HedCold]

from encyclopedia.com

[quote]island - relatively small body of land surrounded entirely by water. (As the oceans form a continuous mass of water on the earth's surface, all continents are islands in the strict sense of the word.) The largest islands on earth are, in descending order of size, Greenland, New Guinea, Borneo, Madagascar, Baffin Island, Sumatra, Honshu (largest of the islands of Japan), and Great Britain. Depending on their origin, islands are either continental or oceanic. Continental islands are created by rise in sea level where only the summits of coastal highlands remain above water; or by the sea breaking through an isthmus or peninsula and cutting the land from the mainland. Typical continental islands are Great Britain and Martha's Vineyard. Other islands emerge along coasts as barrier islands, such as the Outer Banks, NC. Oceanic islands can result from volcanic islands rising above the water, especially on or near a mid-ocean ridge, as when the island of Surtsey appeared along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge S of Iceland in 1963. Island arcs, such as the Aleutian Islands, result from magmatic activity associated with the convergence of lithospheric plates (see plate tectonics ). Oceanic islands are most often the emergent tips of volcanoes (seamounts) formed by hotspots. Oceanic islands that result from coral growth on the summit of seamounts are called coral islands or atolls (see coral reefs ). These low islands only occur in tropical ocean areas. Oceanic islands are generally characterized by low faunal diversity, consisting of a few sea birds and insects. Vegetation is usually more abundant, as seeds are carried from remote lands by wind, water currents, and birds.

:thumbs-up:



Edited By HedCold on June 20 2002 at 02:39

[The Sleeper]

so in the "strict sense of the word", Greenland is NOT the biggest island. I vote that we stop saying it is from now on.

[HedCold]

but then greenland won't have a claim to fame

[The Sleeper]

What about the fact that Greenland is mostly ice and Iceland is mostly Green. Who are the ad wizards that came up with that one?

[HedCold]

isn't that more of icelands claim to fame?

[The Sleeper]

I was simply posing the question. And Bjork, and the fact that they have more bars per square foot than any other country, in that order, are Iceland's claim to fame.

[HedCold]

so greenland doesn't really have any other claim to fame do they?

poor greenlanders

[The Sleeper]

yea, all 5 of them

[HedCold]

the capitol of greenland is Nuuk and the capitol of iceland is Reykjavík

i like the name of the greenland one better

[The Sleeper]

BJORK! BARS! NUFF SAID!!

[HedCold]

i'm not a fan of bjork

[The Sleeper]

name an artist from Greenland who's better

[HedCold]

i suppose this band TAAQ could be

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.angelfire.com/hi/taaq/page4.html">http://www.angelfire.com/hi/taaq/page4.html</a><!-- m -->

[The Sleeper]

If they have to host their site on angelfire, I'm thinking they suck