Jump to content

Islet

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 85.8.12.78 (talk) at 08:39, 21 August 2009 (→‎Synonymous terms). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For human anatomy, see Islets of Langerhans
Mōkōlea Rock in Kailua Bay, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, 2.2 km off North Beach, Marine Corps Base Hawaii

An islet is a small island.

Types

As suggested by its origin as islette, an Old French diminutive of "isle",[1] use of the term implies small size, but little attention is given to drawing an upper limit on its applicability.

Rock:
A "rock", in the sense of a type of islet, is a landform composed of rock, lying offshore, uninhabited, and having at most minimal vegetation.

Sandbar:
An exposed sandbar is another type of islet.

Sea stack:
A thin, vertical landform jutting out of a body of water.

Subsidiary islets:
A more technical application is to small land features, isolated by water, lying off the shore of a larger island. Likewise, any emergent land in an atoll is also called an islet.

Towhead:
A small islet within the current of a river.

Synonymous terms

List of islets

  • Modia Islets, located in the Ionian Sea of the Western coast of Greece.

References