, native_name_link = , image_caption = Minami-Iōtō , image_size = , pushpin_map = Japan complete , pushpin_label = South Iwo Jima , pushpin_label_position = , pushpin_map_alt = , pushpin_relief = , pushpin_map_caption = , map_custom = , nickname = , location =

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

, coordinates = , archipelago =

Volcano Islands The or are a group of three Japanese-governed islands in Micronesia. They lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and belong to the municipality of Ogasawara, Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The islands are all active volcanoes lying atop ...

, total_islands = , major_islands = , area_km2 = 3.54 , length_km = , width_km = , coastline_km = 7.5 , highest_mount = , elevation_m = 916 , country = Japan , country_admin_divisions_title = Prefecture , country_admin_divisions =

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, country_admin_divisions_title_1 =

Subprefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefectures. ...

, country_admin_divisions_1 =

Ogasawara Subprefecture is a subprefecture of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The subprefecture covers the Ogasawara Archipelago and is coterminous with the village of Ogasawara. The prefectural government maintains a main office on Chichijima and a branch office on Hahajim ...

, country_admin_divisions_title_2 =

Village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

, country_admin_divisions_2 = Ogasawara , population = 0 , population_as_of = , density_km2 = 0 , ethnic_groups = , additional_info = is the southernmost island of the

group of the

Ogasawara Islands The Bonin Islands, also known as the , are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some directly south of Tokyo, Japan and northwest of Guam. The name "Bonin Islands" comes from the Japanese word ''bunin'' (an archaic readi ...

, 60 km south of Iwo Jima. It is now administered as part of the Ogasawara-mura of

and is unpopulated. Its pronounced Japanese name was changed on June 18, 2007 to ''Minami-Iōtō'', the

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

unchanged. The next southern island (geologically), located 541 km (336 mi) away, is

Farallon de Pajaros Farallón de Pájaros (from Spanish ''Farallón de Pájaros'', meaning "Birds' Sea Stack", see Stack (geology)), also known as Uracus or Urracas (from Spanish ''Urracas'', meaning "Magpies"), is a small (2.3 km2) uninhabited volcanic island, ...

of the

Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...

while Iwo Jima is roughly 60 km to the north.

Description

The island lies 1300 km south of Tokyo, 330 km SSW of

Chichi-jima , native_name_link = , image_caption = Map of Chichijima, Anijima and Otoutojima , image_size = , pushpin_map = Japan complete , pushpin_label = Chichijima , pushpin_label_position = , pushpin_map_alt = , ...

. Its area is 3.4 km² and the shore length, 7.5 km. Along the shoreline there are few bays and inlets, and it is covered with mostly rocks and little sand. To the rear are sea cliffs that rise to 200 m in height. The peak on South Iwo Jima is the largest in the Ogasawara Islands at 913 m and its average slope angle is 45 degrees. The northwest side of this volcano, which has a relatively stable shape and is not eroding much, rises at a gentler incline of 30 degrees. Another defining feature of the island is that it does not have rivers, lakes, marshes or a freshwater system of any kind. Minami-ioto

South Iwo Jima is part of a volcanic front which has been active for 2,588,000 years beginning in the

Quaternary period The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

and started to form as a result of volcanic activity in that period. Though it is not clear when it emerged as an island, rocks which have been gathered and analyzed show no signs of

geomagnetic reversal A geomagnetic reversal is a change in a planet's magnetic field such that the positions of magnetic north and magnetic south are interchanged (not to be confused with geographic north and geographic south). The Earth's field has alternated ...

, so it is believed that the island is no more than a few hundred thousands years old. It was discovered in October 1543 by Spanish sailor

Bernardo de la Torre Bernardo de la Torre was a Spanish sailor, primarily noted for having explored parts of the Western Pacific Ocean south of Japan in the 16th century. Bernardo de la Torre sailed under the instructions of Ruy López de Villalobos, who sent him in Au ...

on board of carrack ''San Juan de Letrán'' when trying to return from Sarangani to New Spain.

Environment

The island is a treasure house of precious animals and plants because it has not been developed historically due to its geographical isolation from mainland Japan, steep topography and severe weather conditions. The upper part of the island is often covered with clouds and fog, and the ecosystem differs from elevation to elevation. Because of this, the entire area of the island has been designated by the Japanese government as a Nature Conservation Area of Forest Ecosystem in Ogasarawa-Islands and access to the island is strictly restricted, with only a limited number of scientists authorized by the government and mountain experts supporting them being allowed to land on the island. To date, serious academic research has been conducted only four times: in 1936, 1982, 2007, and 2017. Since all the survey routes are from the southwestern coast to the summit of the island, which is relatively easy to climb, most of the island is unexplored except for the coastal area. In 2017, the first drone survey of an unexplored region of the island was conducted. The island forms part of the Kazan-retto islands Important Bird Area (IBA), designated by BirdLife International.

In popular culture

Minami Iwo Jima is the location of Mahoutokoro, the Japanese school of witchcraft and wizardry in the fictional universe of ''Harry Potter''. Mahoutokoro, the shiro or castle, is located on the peak of the extinct volcano and is constructed of pure white jade and surrounded by stormy seas, without any Muggle inhabitants, and very close to a Japanese Air Force base. An episode of the television show ''

The Time Tunnel ''The Time Tunnel'' is an American color science fiction TV series written around a theme of time travel adventure starring James Darren and Robert Colbert. The show was creator-producer Irwin Allen's third science-fiction television series and ...

'', called "Kill Two by Two", was set on the island Minami Iwo, although in the show it was depicted as a lush tropical island with lots of vegetation and fresh water.

References

External links

S. Iwo Jima page in Japanese
{{Authority control Volcano Islands Uninhabited islands of Japan Islands of Tokyo Important Bird Areas of the Nanpo Islands

Description

Environment

In popular culture

See also

References

External links