Chandeleur Islands
The Chandeleur Islands, older and Candlemas Islands, are a about 90 kilometers long, flat, uninhabited island chain in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast, the most easterly point is on them. They belong to the territory of St. Bernard Parish.
The islands were named in the early 18th century by French settlers to the religious Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (Fr. chandeleur, February 2 ). As a major migratory bird station, the islands are part of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge. Until its destruction by a hurricane in 1915, a fishing settlement was located on the islands, including agriculture formerly operated on them.
The Chandeleur Islands are situated on a sand bar that has been created by alluvial deposits of the Mississippi Delta. Throughout history the shape of the islands changed constantly, they were doing less and resistant drifted landward. Even the frequent hurricanes and storm surges have the shape of the islands is constantly changing, due to the effects of hurricanes George (1989) and Katrina ( 2005), the land area of the archipelago has been significantly minimized. The last standing in the water, Built in 1960, the lighthouse at the northern tip was completely destroyed by Katrina. A study by the University of New Orleans, according to have the characteristic sand deposits that after tropical storms so far formed the basis for a re- formation of the island topography, hardly shown after " Katrina ", so the future of the islands is uncertain.
Structure
The Chandeleur Islands consist of seven islands:
- North Chandeleur Islands Chandeleur Islands (in the narrow sense)
- North Iceland
- New Harbor Islands
- Freemason Islands
- Curlew Islands
- Grand Gosier Islands
- Breton Islands
- Map of 1720
- Northern tip before ...
- And ... after Hurricane George (1989 )
- The northern tip of the Chandeleur Islands before and after Hurricane Katrina