Message #121247

[dhill757]

In the Middle of the Atlantic

The Azores Islands lie about 700 miles off the Portuguese coast; 750
miles from Africa;71 1,100 miles from Newfoundland; and 2,200
miles from the east coast of the United States. It is nearly midway
between Europe and the North America.72 The archipelago stretches
about 375 miles from end to end and are found in three separate
groups. They are volcanic in composition.73   

There are three theories on the genesis of the islands: (1) they could
be the last vestages of a large continent such as Atlantis; (2) they
could be the ragged edges of two continental plates pulling apart; or,
(3) they could be molten lava seeping from a large crack in the ocean
floor, cooled by ocean water, and rising to the ocean surface.74 The
latter seems to be the most probable as determined by the experts.
The islands are essentially the tips of a large undersea mountain
range, referred to as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge which stretches the
entire length of the Atlantic Ocean, from north to south. It is made up
of nearly100 volcanoes, some active and some dormant, with 19
hovering over 3,280 feet above sea level. Pico Alto, on the island of
Pico, is the  highest volcano at 7,711 feet.75 Because of these
volcanoes, there is virtually no flatland on the islands.76

Table 1 below shows the varying sizes and heights of the islands. Sao
Miguel is the largest in size with Corvo being the smallest having
only 4 square miles of surface. Sao Miguel, Sao Jorge, and Pico are the
longest islands with an average length of about 35 miles. Most of the
islands are generally from 7 to 10 miles wide and have mountainous
topography.