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Description
A string of islands lies roughly 200 miles to the southwest of the Pacific coastline of Costa Rica. This island chain, which is made up of five main islands, fifteen minor islands and many more islets and rocks, is commonly called the Muertes Archipelago. Named after the five main islands, which are collectively called Las Cinco Muertes, or the Five Deaths, this archipelago is famous for the terrifying legends which surround it and for the activities of the bioengineering corporation known as InGen on the largest island in the archipelago, Isla Sorna, back in the 1980's. The Muertes Archipelago is currently owned by Costa Rica and Isla Sorna itself is officially recognized as a wildlife refuge, strictly off limits to but the privleged few who are granted access.
Geology, Physical Geography and Climate
The Islands of the Muertes Archipelago are of a volcanic origin. Much like the Galapagos Islands to the south, this archipelago was formed by the Muertas Plate (called the Cocos Plate in our reality) sliding over a large hotspot, a spot where the Earth's crust is being melted from below by a mantle plume, with the oldest rocks dating back about 1 million years. However, the Muertes Archipelago is in a rather strange shape compared to island chains with a similar origin. Instead of stretching eastward (the direction the Muertas Plate is moving) along a general line, the Muertes Islands form a westward-facing bow shape. However, a geological study of the rocks of each of the islands may have provided an explanation to this strange phenomenon. It would seem that the islands of this archipelago formed very quickly (by geologic terms) and very violently, quickly depleting their parent hotspot's supply of magma. The archipelago didn't have much time to grow much larger than this. The specific shape itself, however was just a random outcome from this.
The Muertes Hotspot is mostly depleted. The only still-active volcano in the entire island chain is located on Isla Tacano, and even this volcano isn't very lively.
The climate of the islands is very tropical. Most of the islands are largely covered in tropical and montane forests.
The Five Deaths
The islands are listed from top to bottom.
-Isla Matanceros: The oldest of the islands, Isla Matanceros is roughly in the shape of a bent rectangle. The oldest rocks of the island date back approximately 1 million years. It's volcanos long dead, the isle's peaks have been worn down, leaving it the lowest of the Five Deaths excluding Isla Pena. Isla Matanceros is arguably the most beautiful island in the archipelago, sporting gorgeous beaches and ethreal tropical forests, the largest stretches of old-growth forests in the entire archipelago. This island is a home to many native species and a breeding ground for several oceanic species such as Galapagos Sea Lions and Red-footed Boobies. However, studies by the Operation Finding a Way team have observed a few of the cloned Mesozoic species such as Compsognathus and Pterodactylus establishing populations on the island.
-Isla Sorna: Formed from three separate islands which have fused together, Isla Sorna is the third oldest island, just a couple thousand years younger than Isla Muerta. Spanning nearly 10 kilometers east to west and around 5 kilometers at its widest point north to south, Sorna is easily the largest island in the Muertes Archipelago. Where its neighbor to the northeast has some of the lowest peaks, Sorna has the highest. The tallest mountains of Isla Sorna soar nearly 2,000 feet above sea level. Sorna is the most rugged of the isles, with few beaches and steep slopes with valleys and ravines in between. The slopes of the mountains sport montain forests and daily fog supports tropical cloud forests in the lowlands. However, these forests are under serious threat as the island is the home of the invasive mesozoic creatures that had been left there when InGen evacuated the island. Though several of these invasives have gone back into extinction due to illness, predation and malnutrition, the surviving species are generally making the native inhabitants suffer and, according to recent research, are slowly establishing themselves within a new ecosystem on the islands.
-Isla Tacano: The second youngest of the main islands, Isla Tacano is also the most volcanically active. The island's highest peak, Sierra Oviedo (named after Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo, the spanish explorer who discovered the islands), is the only active volcano in the entire island chain. However, the mountain is not particularly lively. Studies would indicate that the volcano last erupted nearly 600 years ago and it's currently debated whether or not the mountain will erupt again.
Isla Tacano is largely covered in intermittent tropical forest. Lava and mostly quiet geyser fields are also present, primarily on the western side of the island. Though mesozoic creatures have been observed on the island, no populations or colonies have ever been seen.
-Isla Pena: By far the youngest and the smallest of the Five Deaths, Isla Pena is a rather stange island. The island with the lowest elevation, Isla Pena strangely has no volcanos and there is no evidence that there ever was a volcano on the island. The current theory is that the island was formed from a massive lava flow from one of Sierra Oviedo's more violent eruptions. Over time, sand accumulated along the edges of the cooled lava flow, forming the island which is currently seen today.
Isla Pena has very few trees. At the most it has some thickets of palm trees here and there. Naturally, the island is very flat, with very little elevation at all. The island is a favored breeding ground for many oceanic species. Indeed, the largest colonies of seabirds, marine mammals and sea turtles can be found on the shores of this island.
-Isla Muerta: The second oldest island in the archipelago, Isla Muerta is also the third largest island. It is also the only one of the Five Deaths that has never seen any invasive mesozoics. The most isolated of the five main islands, Isla Muerta is a haven for all the native creatures of the Muertes Archipelago. Largely covered in dense forests and rolling hills, Isla Muerta is ironically one of the more pleasant islands in the chain. One of its now extinct volcanos has a crater lake.
History
Much of the archipelago's ancient history is quite mysterious, though the native americans have come to fear these islands as they believe they are cursed or perhaps haunted, as many legends tell of executions happening on these isles.
The islands were first discovered by spanish explorer Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo, and several of his men inexplicably perished in the time after they left. The islands never had any permanent settlements due to the superstition which surrounded them.
In the 1980's International Genetic Technologies, otherwise known as InGen, set up an operation on Isla Sorna. This was where they cloned mesozoic creatures for their future theme park on Isla Nublar, an island 100 miles to the northeast. However, when the park failed in 1989, the base on Isla Sorna was hastily evacuated, the cloned animals released to mature on their own.
In 1997, InGen would return to Isla Sorna to capture animals to be showcased in a new park in San Diego. The team managed to capture a mature(but not fully grown) male Tyrannosaurus and one of its offspring. They were brought to San Diego, but the adult tyrannosaur escaped and rampaged through the city. The animals were soon recaptured and sent back to Isla Sorna and the island would soon after be made a nature preserve. The island would not see any human visitors until the OFAW team landed in 2006 on a mission to study the animals.
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Description
A string of islands lies roughly 200 miles to the southwest of the Pacific coastline of Costa Rica. This island chain, which is made up of five main islands, fifteen minor islands and many more islets and rocks, is commonly called the Muertes Archipelago. Named after the five main islands, which are collectively called Las Cinco Muertes, or the Five Deaths, this archipelago is famous for the terrifying legends which surround it and for the activities of the bioengineering corporation known as InGen on the largest island in the archipelago, Isla Sorna, back in the 1980's. The Muertes Archipelago is currently owned by Costa Rica and Isla Sorna itself is officially recognized as a wildlife refuge, strictly off limits to but the privleged few who are granted access.
Geology, Physical Geography and Climate
The Islands of the Muertes Archipelago are of a volcanic origin. Much like the Galapagos Islands to the south, this archipelago was formed by the Muertas Plate (called the Cocos Plate in our reality) sliding over a large hotspot, a spot where the Earth's crust is being melted from below by a mantle plume, with the oldest rocks dating back about 1 million years. However, the Muertes Archipelago is in a rather strange shape compared to island chains with a similar origin. Instead of stretching eastward (the direction the Muertas Plate is moving) along a general line, the Muertes Islands form a westward-facing bow shape. However, a geological study of the rocks of each of the islands may have provided an explanation to this strange phenomenon. It would seem that the islands of this archipelago formed very quickly (by geologic terms) and very violently, quickly depleting their parent hotspot's supply of magma. The archipelago didn't have much time to grow much larger than this. The specific shape itself, however was just a random outcome from this.
The Muertes Hotspot is mostly depleted. The only still-active volcano in the entire island chain is located on Isla Tacano, and even this volcano isn't very lively.
The climate of the islands is very tropical. Most of the islands are largely covered in tropical and montane forests.
The Five Deaths
The islands are listed from top to bottom.
-Isla Matanceros: The oldest of the islands, Isla Matanceros is roughly in the shape of a bent rectangle. The oldest rocks of the island date back approximately 1 million years. It's volcanos long dead, the isle's peaks have been worn down, leaving it the lowest of the Five Deaths excluding Isla Pena. Isla Matanceros is arguably the most beautiful island in the archipelago, sporting gorgeous beaches and ethreal tropical forests, the largest stretches of old-growth forests in the entire archipelago. This island is a home to many native species and a breeding ground for several oceanic species such as Galapagos Sea Lions and Red-footed Boobies. However, studies by the Operation Finding a Way team have observed a few of the cloned Mesozoic species such as Compsognathus and Pterodactylus establishing populations on the island.
-Isla Sorna: Formed from three separate islands which have fused together, Isla Sorna is the third oldest island, just a couple thousand years younger than Isla Muerta. Spanning nearly 10 kilometers east to west and around 5 kilometers at its widest point north to south, Sorna is easily the largest island in the Muertes Archipelago. Where its neighbor to the northeast has some of the lowest peaks, Sorna has the highest. The tallest mountains of Isla Sorna soar nearly 2,000 feet above sea level. Sorna is the most rugged of the isles, with few beaches and steep slopes with valleys and ravines in between. The slopes of the mountains sport montain forests and daily fog supports tropical cloud forests in the lowlands. However, these forests are under serious threat as the island is the home of the invasive mesozoic creatures that had been left there when InGen evacuated the island. Though several of these invasives have gone back into extinction due to illness, predation and malnutrition, the surviving species are generally making the native inhabitants suffer and, according to recent research, are slowly establishing themselves within a new ecosystem on the islands.
-Isla Tacano: The second youngest of the main islands, Isla Tacano is also the most volcanically active. The island's highest peak, Sierra Oviedo (named after Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo, the spanish explorer who discovered the islands), is the only active volcano in the entire island chain. However, the mountain is not particularly lively. Studies would indicate that the volcano last erupted nearly 600 years ago and it's currently debated whether or not the mountain will erupt again.
Isla Tacano is largely covered in intermittent tropical forest. Lava and mostly quiet geyser fields are also present, primarily on the western side of the island. Though mesozoic creatures have been observed on the island, no populations or colonies have ever been seen.
-Isla Pena: By far the youngest and the smallest of the Five Deaths, Isla Pena is a rather stange island. The island with the lowest elevation, Isla Pena strangely has no volcanos and there is no evidence that there ever was a volcano on the island. The current theory is that the island was formed from a massive lava flow from one of Sierra Oviedo's more violent eruptions. Over time, sand accumulated along the edges of the cooled lava flow, forming the island which is currently seen today.
Isla Pena has very few trees. At the most it has some thickets of palm trees here and there. Naturally, the island is very flat, with very little elevation at all. The island is a favored breeding ground for many oceanic species. Indeed, the largest colonies of seabirds, marine mammals and sea turtles can be found on the shores of this island.
-Isla Muerta: The second oldest island in the archipelago, Isla Muerta is also the third largest island. It is also the only one of the Five Deaths that has never seen any invasive mesozoics. The most isolated of the five main islands, Isla Muerta is a haven for all the native creatures of the Muertes Archipelago. Largely covered in dense forests and rolling hills, Isla Muerta is ironically one of the more pleasant islands in the chain. One of its now extinct volcanos has a crater lake.
History
Much of the archipelago's ancient history is quite mysterious, though the native americans have come to fear these islands as they believe they are cursed or perhaps haunted, as many legends tell of executions happening on these isles.
The islands were first discovered by spanish explorer Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo, and several of his men inexplicably perished in the time after they left. The islands never had any permanent settlements due to the superstition which surrounded them.
In the 1980's International Genetic Technologies, otherwise known as InGen, set up an operation on Isla Sorna. This was where they cloned mesozoic creatures for their future theme park on Isla Nublar, an island 100 miles to the northeast. However, when the park failed in 1989, the base on Isla Sorna was hastily evacuated, the cloned animals released to mature on their own.
In 1997, InGen would return to Isla Sorna to capture animals to be showcased in a new park in San Diego. The team managed to capture a mature(but not fully grown) male Tyrannosaurus and one of its offspring. They were brought to San Diego, but the adult tyrannosaur escaped and rampaged through the city. The animals were soon recaptured and sent back to Isla Sorna and the island would soon after be made a nature preserve. The island would not see any human visitors until the OFAW team landed in 2006 on a mission to study the animals.
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