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Geological Formation

Mascarene Islands

Volcanic Formations

The Mascarene Islands are a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar comprising Mauritius, Reunion and Rodrigues along with additional volcanic remnants, named for the Portuguese navigator Pedro Mascarenhas, who first visited them in April 1512. The archipelago forms a distinct ecoregion with high biodiversity and endemism, and today holds about 2.2 million people across territory administered by Mauritius and France. The islands were built by the Reunion hotspot: Saya de Malha rose first about 35 million years ago, Mauritius formed 7 to 10 million years ago, and Rodrigues rose within the last two million years. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Connections

Caused By

Volcanism, Processes
Source Mascarene Islands (Wikipedia)

In Discipline

Geomorphology, Disciplines

Wikidata P31 formation-type mapped to discipline Geomorphology via reviewed judgment map (earth atlas); source citation is this entity's own cited Wikidata item.

Source Wikidata: Mascarene Islands
In the Other Atlases

Found In

France

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Wikidata: Mascarene Islands
Mauritius

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Wikidata: Mascarene Islands
Sources
Mascarene Islands (Wikipedia)
  • Lead section
    The Mascarene Islands (English: ; French: Mascareignes [maskaʁɛɲ] ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion.
  • Caused By: Volcanism, Article text
    The islands are volcanic in origin; Saya de Malha (35 mya) was the first of the Mascarene islands to rise out of the Indian Ocean due to the Réunion hotspot, followed by Nazareth Bank (approximately 2 mya later), Soudan Bank and Cargados Carajos.
View the Source
Wikidata: Mascarene Islands
Wikidata Q205695, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
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