An atoll is a ring-shaped island, reef, or chain of islands formed of coral. A cay, also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island on the surface of a coral reef.
What is the difference between a key and an atoll?
is that cay is a small, low island largely made of sand or coral while atoll is a type of island consisting of a ribbon reef that nearly or entirely surrounds a lagoon and supports, in most cases, one to many islets on the reef platform atolls have a unique geology, so not all islands with a reef and a lagoon are
Whats the difference between a cay and an island?
Cays. Cays actually are technically different than islands because rather than being formed by volcanic action or continental plates, cays are low-elevation landmasses formed on top of coral reefs. The ocean transports loose sediment across a reef where it accumulates and builds up.
What is difference between island and atoll?
An atoll is a ring-shaped coral reef, island, or series of islets. An atoll surrounds a body of water called a lagoon. Sometimes, atolls and lagoons protect a central island. Channels between islets connect a lagoon to the open ocean or sea.
What is the difference between a Coral Island and an atoll?
In A Nutshell
A coral reef consists of a limestone structure upon which a wide variety of marine organisms—including coral—make their home. An atoll is a very specific kind of coral reef; it is a circular reef that forms around the mouth of an underwater volcano.
What is a key vs an island?
As mentioned, a key is an island. Specifically, it’s an island formed through the build-up of coral. The island IS a coral reef. To expand further, a key is a small, low [elevation] island on sand or coral. Since coral growth thrives in warm, shallow water, keys are in fact low islands.
Why is cay pronounced key?
Cay is most often applied to Caribbean islands, the preferred pronunciation is “key” Cay comes from the Spanish word, cayo, which means key. Its first use to refer to an island occurred in 1707. Key also may refer to a naturally occurring low island, either a sandbar or a coral reef.
What makes an island a key?
All keys are islands, but not all islands are keys. A key is a special kind of island that is made from built-up coral deposits. This feature makes them different from other islands: keys are a result of biological activity from corals, where other kinds of islands have strictly geological origins.
What is the largest atoll in the world?
A few of the islands are compact with fringing reefs, but most are atolls. The largest atoll (and one of the largest in the world) is Kiritimati (Christmas) Atoll in the Line group, which has a land area of 150 square miles (388 square km) and accounts for almost half of the country’s total area.
Is Bermuda an atoll?
Islands formed in this manner are called atolls, and while atolls are not uncommon in the Pacific, Bermuda is the only atoll in the Atlantic Ocean.
How many islands does an atoll have?
It is a small natural atoll 22 kilometres (14 miles) in length. It has 25 islands lying all around the boundary reef. One long barrier reef forms the western side of the atoll. There are several coral patches in the lagoon and the general depth in the centre is 20 to 30 fathoms (35 to 55 m).
Are there any atolls in the Caribbean?
You usually hear the word atoll — meaning a ring-shaped coral island, reef, or chain of islands — associated with the South Pacific, but the Caribbean has its very own atoll off the coast of Belize.
What are the two main types of islands?
There are two main types of islands in the sea: continental and oceanic. There are also artificial islands, which are man-made.
What is the difference between an island and an islet?
An islet is a very small island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand, and/or coral; may be permanent or tidal; and may exist in the sea, rivers, or any other body of water.
What are the islands off the coast of Florida called?
Major island chains include the Florida Keys, the Ten Thousand Islands, the Sea Islands, and the barrier islands of the Atlantic coast, the Panhandle Gulf of Mexico coast, and the Tampa Bay Area and Southwest Florida Gulf coast. In Biscayne National Park.
Are the Florida Keys considered part of the Caribbean?
The Keys, which lie about 15 miles south of Miami and 90 miles north of Cuba, are often referred to as America’s Caribbean. The archipelago is home to more than 1,700 islands along a 112-mile stretch. Some islands, like Key West, are quite developed and populated, while others remain more undeveloped.
Are the Florida Keys considered an island?
A popular destination for fishing, boating, snorkeling, scuba diving, and vacationing generally, the Florida Keys are a coral island archipelago near the southeastern tip of the US state of Florida.
Why are islands called cay?
The English word cay comes from the Spanish word cayo and this from the Taíno word cayo meaning “small island”. The English words key and quay (which means wharf) come from the old French kai meaning “sand bank”.
What is say quay not Kway?
Quay is traditionally pronounced as ‘key’ in Australia, as in Circular Quay it is pronounced “Circular Key”. “kway” is an americanisation added later. Not sure where the contributer above comes from, suggesting “kway” as the correct prononciation in Australia.
What is quay not Kway?
Many Americans have a tendency to pronounce words the way they see them spelled. Just as many Americans insist on restoring to the word “palm” the L sound it lost centuries ago because that is how it is spelled, many Americans pronounce “quay” as “Kway” because that is the pronunciation the spelling would suggest.
Why is Key West called key?
Spanish settlers originally called Key West Cayo Hueso, which translates to bone island, referring to the bones of the Calusa Indians who had once lived in the Florida Keys. English speakers mistook Cayo Hueso, thinking it sounded like Key West and the name stuck.
