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Science 5 August 1983:
Vol. 221. no. 4610, pp. 545 - 547
DOI: 10.1126/science.221.4610.545
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Articles

Origin of Española Island and the Age of Terrestrial Life on the Galápagos Islands

MINARD L. HALL 1

1 Facultad de Geología Escuela, Politécnica Nacional, Quito, Ecuador

Geological studies of Española (Hood) Island, Galápagos, Ecuador, indicate that the island had a subaerial rather than a submarine origin. Because the younger lava flows are dated at 3 million years, Española has apparently existed as an island for at least that long. Thus terrestrial life may have existed or arrived on the Galápagos Islands at least 3 million years ago, more than twice as long as had been assumed.

Submitted on November 30, 1982
Revised on April 8, 1983


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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