Falkland Islands - Geography

Geography

The Falkland Islands are located in the South Atlantic Ocean on a projection of the Patagonian Shelf about 310 miles (500 kilometres) east of the Patagonian coastline and about 280 miles (450 kilometres) north-east of the southerly tip of Tierra del Fuego. In ancient geological time this shelf was part of Gondwana, which around 400 million years ago broke from what is now Africa and drifted westwards relative to Africa.

The Falklands, which have a total land area of 4,700 square miles (12,173 square kilometres) and a coastline estimated at 2,200 miles (3,500 km) comprise two main islands, West Falkland and East Falkland and about 776 smaller islands. The two principal islands lie between 51°15′ S and 52°25′ S and between 57°40′ W and 61°05′ W and are 140 miles (220 km) from east to west and 87 miles (140 km) from north to south. They are heavily indented by sounds and fjords and have many natural harbours. The two main islands are separated by the Falkland Sound.

East Falkland, which contains the capital Stanley and the British military base at Mount Pleasant, is the more populous of the two main islands.

Both West Falkland and the northern part of East Falkland have mountain ranges that are underlaid with Palaeozoic rock, which, as a result of secondary forces associated with continental drift are at 120° to each other. The highest point of the islands is Mount Usborne, 2,313 feet (705 m) on East Falkland, while Mount Adam on West Falkland is only 16 feet (5 m) lower. The southern part of East Falkland, the Lafonia Peninsula, which is connected to the rest of the island by a 2.5 miles (4 km) narrow isthmus, is dissimilar to the rest of the island. Most of Lafonia is a flat plain underlain by younger Mesozoic rock, but in the north west is Permian rock which is similar to that of parts of Ecca Pass in South Africa.