User:π π π/List of remotest islands
This list of remotest islands was compiled by me in many hours of research. I expect it to be complete at least up to 200 km, and hopefully also entirely.
Remoteness is the distance to the nearest landmass. In order to not disqualify remote islands with small offshore rocks or islets, I had to come up with a new definition for island for this list: An archipelago is considered an island if the minimal distance of any land in the archipelago to any land outside of it is at least twice as big as the maximal distance of any land in the archipelago to the shore of the archipelago's largest island. In other words, the archipelago has to be at least twice as far from the nearest landmass as the group's main island is from its most outlying island.
Unsurprisingly, this definition excludes some classic archipelagos while some groups of islands that are usually not considered archipelagos appear in the list. However, this is unavoidable if one strives for an objective list independent of arbitrary, historically and culturally arisen names. In all, the definition is very simple and deviations from designations roughly keep their balance in both directions, so I am content with this methodology.
Some islands or archipelagos, mostly in and around the Coral and Tasman Seas, have multiple distances listed; this is because the landmass of some atolls is only periodically above sea level or the data available to me is not good enough to determine the nearest landmass with certainty. Every isolation range has an explanatory note (currently in German, will translate soon).
Eleven islands or archipelagos appear on their own as well as as part of a bigger archipelago: Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Isla Salas y Gómez, Gough Island, Bounty Islands, Starbuck Island, Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs, Robinson Crusoe Island, Okidaitōjima, Wolf Island, Bassas da India, and Roca Partida.
If you have questions or find a mistake in the list, please contact me on the talk page. I appreciate any kind of feedback.
Islands that narrowly miss the cut are e.g. Banda Besar (99 km), Buldir Island (98 km), Karakelong (97 km), Stolbovoy Island (97 km), Manra (97 km), Orona (97 km), Franklin Island (96 km), Ono Levu (Ono-i-Lau, 96 km), and Mejit Island (96 km).
- ^ The isolation depends on whether the Minerva Reefs have any land. The first two distance ranges point to Southern and Northern Minerva Reef.
- ^ The isolation depends on whether the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs have any land and its location.
- ^ The inclusion of the Minerva Reefs depends on whether there exists any land. The shorter isolation range applies if the Northern Minerva Reef has land and the longer if only the Southern Reef has islands. On satellite imagery, an elevated sand bank can maybe be seen in the west of the northern reef. The sand bar around the atoll is supposedly exposed at low tide.
- ^ The inclusion of Scarborough Shoal depends on whether it contains any land. Coral rocks mentioned to be permanently above water cannot be identified from satellite imagery. The isolation depends on the rocks' location.
- ^ The inclusion of Marion Reef depends on whether there is any land there. On satellite imagery, two small sand islets are visible. The isolation depends on the position of land areas in Lihou Reef.
- ^ The inclusion of Pocklington Reef depends on whether it has any land, the isolation depends on its location. On satellite images, a small sand cay can be seen in the utmost east.
- ^ The inclusion of the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs depends on whether they have any land. On satellite images, a tiny sand cay is visible in the north of Elizabeth Reef. The longer isolation range applies if only Middleton Reef also has land, where an alleged cay cannot be seen on imagery.
- ^ Pingvin Island is marked on several nautical maps [1][2]. However, a 2010 expedition did not find any land at the supposed location. [3] It is presumed that Soviet cartographers recorded an iceberg as an island in 1956 and 1960. ("On modern maps, […] ‘Pingvin Island’ is no longer shown. It is possible that in the early 1950s an iceberg was mistaken for an island.", Australia Antarctic Division, Polar Record 45 (235): 304–312 (2009).; "It is likely that Korotkevich (1964) confused Pingvin Island with a grounded iceberg, and that the feature has since floated away." Splettstoesser et al. (2000): Notes on Antarctic wildlife: Ross seals Ommatophoca rossii and emperor penguins Aptenodytes forsteri, 27:2, 137-142.)
- ^ Rennell Island is only included in the list if there is no land in the two northernmost Indispensable Reefs. Literature suggests that there is a small islet in Middle Reef, though it is hard to see on satellite imagery.
- ^ The inclusion of the Luconia Shoals depends on whether they have any land and its position. According to literature, only the Luconia Breakers have any land, which can be seen on satellite maps. However, the isolation depends on whether there is any land area farther north in the reef chain and whether neighbouring Louisa Reef has any islands.
- ^ The inclusion of Louisa Reef depends on whether there it has any land as well as whether there is any land in the northern Luconia Shoals. According to literature, some rocks in Louisa Reef protrude from the water, though they are not visible on satellite images. The only supposed land in the Luconia Shoals, the Luconia Breakers, are located in the south and therefore farther away than Swallow Reef.
- ^ The inclusion of Holmes Reef depends on whether it has any land. On satellite imagery, no land can definitively be identified. The isolation also depends on where there is land in Flinders Reef.
- ^ The isolation depends on whether and where there is land in Banc du Geyser reef.
- ^ The inclusion of the reef Banc du Geyser depends on whether there exists any land area. According to literature, some rocks protrude permanently from the water.
- ^ The inclusion of Bassas da India depends on whether it has any land. Records speak of coral rocks being permanently above water. On some satellite images, a low exposed sand bar can be seen.
- ^ The isolation depends on whether and where there is land in Maro Reef.
- ^ The inclusion of Maro Reef depends on whether there it has any land area. Reports speak of dry land above water except at high tide, but it cannot be definitively seen on satellite imagery.
- ^ The isolation depends on whether there is any other land in Flinders Reef beside the small and potentially not permanent sand cay in North Flinders Reef. None can be seen on satellite maps.
- ^ The inclusion of Pétrie Reef depends on whether it has dry land. On satellite images, a few small sand cays are visible. The isolation also depends on where there is land in Cook Reef.
- ^ The isolation depends the locations of islets in Serranilla Bank and Bajo Nuevo Bank. Satellite images indicate more sand cays than some maps, but rocks mentioned protruding from the sea are not visible. If Bajo Nuevo Bank has no land, it also depends on the location of islands in Serrana Bank.
- ^ The inclusion of Bajo Nuevo Bank depends on whether it contains any land area. Some miniscule exposed sand bars are visible on satellite maps, but not the bigger cay mentioned in the literature. The isolation depends on their position as well as the position of islands in Serranilla Bank.
- ^ Berkner Island and Henry Ice Rise are not islands in the strict sense, but ice rises.