Chirinkotan
Encyclopedia
Chirinkotan is an uninhabited volcanic island located in the centre of the Kuril Islands
chain in the Sea of Okhotsk
in the northwest Pacific Ocean
. Its name is derived from the Ainu language
for "mudslide". It is located 30 kilometers west of Ekarma
, its nearest neighbor.
rising approximately 3000 meters from the floor of the Sea of Okhotsk, and is roughly circular with an area of 6 km²
The island’s highest point (“Masaochi” in Ainu) is 742 meters high, is still active volcano with major eruptions recorded in 1760, 1884, 1900, 1979, 1986 and 2004. Reports of a 1955 eruption are unconfirmed. The caldera is approximately one kilometer wide, with a depth of 300 to 400 meters, and is breached on its south-east side. The shores of the island are steep cliffs, making landing by small boat impossible.
was passed to the Empire of Japan
per the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875) along with the rest of the Kurile Islands. The island was formerly administered as part of Shumushu District of Nemuro Subprefecture
of Hokkaidō
. After World War II
, the island came under the control of the Soviet Union
, and is now administered as part of the Sakhalin Oblast
of the Russian Federation.
Kuril Islands
The Kuril Islands , in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, form a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many more minor rocks. It consists of Greater...
chain in the Sea of Okhotsk
Sea of Okhotsk
The Sea of Okhotsk is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, lying between the Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, the island of Hokkaidō to the far south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a long stretch of eastern Siberian coast along the west and...
in the northwest Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. Its name is derived from the Ainu language
Ainu language
Ainu is one of the Ainu languages, spoken by members of the Ainu ethnic group on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaidō....
for "mudslide". It is located 30 kilometers west of Ekarma
Ekarma
Ekarma is an uninhabited volcanic island near the center of the Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwest Pacific Ocean, separated from Shiashkotan by the Ekarma Strait...
, its nearest neighbor.
Geology
Chirinkotan is at the far end of a volcanic chain extending nearly 50 km west of the central part of the main Kuril Islands arc. The island is the top of a partially submerged stratovolcanoStratovolcano
A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a tall, conical volcano built up by many layers of hardened lava, tephra, pumice, and volcanic ash. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile and periodic, explosive eruptions...
rising approximately 3000 meters from the floor of the Sea of Okhotsk, and is roughly circular with an area of 6 km²
The island’s highest point (“Masaochi” in Ainu) is 742 meters high, is still active volcano with major eruptions recorded in 1760, 1884, 1900, 1979, 1986 and 2004. Reports of a 1955 eruption are unconfirmed. The caldera is approximately one kilometer wide, with a depth of 300 to 400 meters, and is breached on its south-east side. The shores of the island are steep cliffs, making landing by small boat impossible.
History
Chirinkotan has had no permanent habitation. Claimed by the Empire of Russia, sovereigntySovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
was passed to the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
per the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875) along with the rest of the Kurile Islands. The island was formerly administered as part of Shumushu District of Nemuro Subprefecture
Nemuro Subprefecture
is a subprefecture of Hokkaidō, Japan. The Japanese claim the disputed Southern Kurile Islands as part of this subprefecture....
of Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the island came under the control of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, and is now administered as part of the Sakhalin Oblast
Sakhalin Oblast
Sakhalin Oblast is a federal subject of Russia comprising the island of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.The oblast has an area of 87,100 km² and a population of 546,695...
of the Russian Federation.
External links
Further reading
- Gorshkov, G. S. Volcanism and the Upper Mantle Investigations in the Kurile Island Arc. Monographs in geoscience. New York: Plenum Press, 1970. ISBN 0-306-30407-4
- Krasheninnikov, Stepan Petrovich, and James Greive. The History of Kamtschatka and the Kurilski Islands, with the Countries Adjacent. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1963.
- Rees, David. The Soviet Seizure of the Kuriles. New York: Praeger, 1985. ISBN 0-03-002552-4
- Takahashi, Hideki, and Masahiro Ōhara. Biodiversity and Biogeography of the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin. Bulletin of the Hokkaido University Museum, no. 2-. Sapporo, Japan: Hokkaido University Museum, 2004.