OCEANIC ISLAND

Land formed from the eruption of a volcano on the ocean floor.

No matter what their height, oceanic islands are also known as “high islands.”
Continental and coral islands, which may be hundreds of meters taller than high
islands, are called “low islands.”

an oceanic island in the South Pacific rises from the ocean floor
 Formation of oceanic island

• As volcanoes erupt, they build up layers of lava that may eventually break the water’s surface.
• When the tops of the volcanoes appear above the water, an island is formed.
• While the volcano is still beneath the ocean surface, it is called a seamount.
The various types of oceanic islands:

the Republic of Mauritius ,an oceanic island

• Those found in a volcanic island arc: This type of oceanic island arises from volcanoes where the subduction of
one plate under another occurs.
• Typical examples are: the Republic of Mauritius, most of Tonga in the Pacific Ocean and The Mariana islands.
The various types of oceanic islands:

Jan Mayen is a Norwegian volcanic island

• Those that occur where an oceanic rift reaches the surface:

• e.g Jan Mayen and Ice (the world’s largest volcanic island). Both of these are in the Atlantic ocean
The various types of oceanic islands:

The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago ofiseight

Jan Mayen major
a Norwegian islands
volcanic island

• Those formed over volcanic hotspots: More often than not, a hotspot is usually stationary relative to the
moving tectonic plate in oceanic islands.
• Thus, movement of a plate across a hotspot gives a line of islands oriented in the direction of the plate
movement
• e.g: The Hawaiian Islands and the Tuamotu Archipelago