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250:, with lime formation dominating the terrain, with phosphates of alumina and iron recorded on the hills. The entire island is geologically identified as an isolated limestone-capped volcanic island with hill formations rising to a height of 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) above the sea floor. Geological formations recorded are mainly-basaltic volcanic rocks interspersed with tertiary limestones and occasional inter-bedded
254:
overlaid by phosphate-rich soils on the surface in some areas. Along with the highest elevations of
Phosphate Hill and Flying Fish Cove, the rocks from Murray Hill summit are characterized as dolomitic limestones, containing between 34 and 41 percent carbonate of magnesia. Analyses of the rocks has
340:
declared by
Proclamation under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975, on 21 February 1980, covering an area of 85 km (out of total area of 135 km of the island). On 16 July 2000, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 came into effect and the park
242:
In the saddle-shaped
Christmas Island, the Murray Hill rises to a height of 357 metres (1,171 ft). It is situated in the western central part of the island. It is 3.25 miles (5.23 km) to the southeast of Northwest Point where the Headridge Hill rises to a height of 335 metres
198:
ship, and it was named
Christmas Island on 25 December 1643. However, it was only 272 years later, in 1887, that detailed exploration of the topographical features and geological formations of the island was performed. This was an effort by a small group of people from
206:. They were the first to scale the highest mountain of the island, which is named as Murray Hill, though in earlier centuries some hills closer to the coast line and dense forest areas had been discovered. The detailed exploration also led to the finding of pure
281:. Recent Ar/Ar geochronology study by Taneja et al. (2015) on the volcanic rocks from Christmas Island have shown that the experienced a renewed volcanism in the Eocene (43 - 37 Ma) and then a minor phase of volcanism in the Pliocene (4.2 Ma).
243:(1,099 ft). West White Beach occurs on the southwest side of the hill. At 3.5 miles (5.6 km) in width, the most narrow point of Christmas Island is a line drawn north–south through Murray Hill.
599:
Taneja, Rajat; O'Neill, Craig; Lackie, Mark; Rushmer, Tracy; Schmidt, Phil; Jourdan, Fred (2015). "40Ar/39Ar geochronology and the paleoposition of
Christmas Island (Australia), Northeast Indian Ocean".
289:
The plateau around the summit is dense and evergreen, although the biodiversity of trees is limited compared to similar areas of continental rainforest. One of the main fauna is the red land crab,
182:
covering an area of 85 square kilometres (33 sq mi) of the island's southwest corner; the island's total area is approximately 135 square kilometres (52 sq mi).
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The plateau around the summit is dense and evergreen, although the biodiversity of trees is limited compared to similar areas of continental
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Murray Hill is an integral part of a reserve area which covers the entire southwest corner of the island. Initially, it was declared as the
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The entire island including Murray Hill has been formed out of submarine mountain formations. It is conjectured to be an ancient
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171:, at 357 metres (1,171 ft) above sea level. It was first scaled in 1857 even though the island had been located in 1615.
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269:. The small, brown spherules of phosphatic matter which occur on the hill in a bed of rock may be explained because of
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is now a
Commonwealth Reserve under this Act. As of 2010, the national park makes up 63 percent of Christmas Island.
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which ensured the development of the island in the next century. Its control initially came under the
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629:"Control of seedling recruitment by land crabs in rain forest on a remote oceanic island"
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British Museum (Natural
History). Dept. of Geology; Andrews, Charles William (1900).
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323:(Christmas Island forest skink); major invertebrates are also present, such as the
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shown that the fossils are mostly obliterated, though there are remains of
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497:(Public domain ed.). Printed by order of the Trustees. pp.
442:"Notes On a Geomorphological Study Of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean"
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295:, which feeds on small seedlings. Vertebrates include geckos such as
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Pub175, 2004 Sailing
Directions (Enroute): West Coast of Australia
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654:"PART 1 A Description of Christmas Island and the National Park"
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Green, Peter; O'Dowd, Dennis J.; Lake, P.S. (1 December 2007).
447:. Department of national development, Government of Australia
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Christmas Island was first discovered on in 1615 by
Captain
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659:. Environment Department of Government of Australia
575:"Karst Features of Christmas Island (Indian Ocean)"
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494:A monograph of Christmas Island (Indian Ocean)
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551:. Hydrographic Office, Admiralty. p. 10
420:(8 ed.). ProStar. 2004. pp. 230–.
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526:. Australian Government Publishing Service
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545:Great Britain. Hydrographic Dept (1906).
360:CGIAR Consortium for Spatial Information.
178:. Murray Hill is an integral part of the
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467:"Christmas Island (10°30'S, 105°40'E)"
273:of volcanic rock. Murray Hill has an
230:), and finally as a sovereign part of
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678:Central Intelligence Agency (2010).
631:. Journal of Ecology. Archived from
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35:Murray Hill is in the western part
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684:. Potomac Books. pp. 139–.
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1066:British Indian Ocean Territory
469:. Global Security Organization
338:Christmas Island National Park
180:Christmas Island National Park
136:Location on a map of Indonesia
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1107:Geography of Christmas Island
712:Murray Hill, Christmas Island
580:. Helicite Caves Organization
523:Territory of Christmas Island
16:Mountain in Christmas Island
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61:357 m (1,171 ft)
51:357 m (1,171 ft)
317:(Blue-tailed Skink), and
277:of many rocks subject to
218:(from 1888), then as the
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26:
614:10.1016/j.gr.2014.04.004
327:, and the little nipper
271:phosphatic fossilization
167:is the highest point of
1076:Cocos (Keeling) Islands
681:The World Factbook 2010
548:The China Sea Directory
314:Cryptoblepharus egeriae
749:Highest points of Asia
304:Lepidodactylus listeri
89:10.48333°S 105.58083°E
238:Geography and geology
234:from 1 October 1958.
990:United Arab Emirates
94:-10.48333; 105.58083
1017:limited recognition
398:. British Empire.co
311:, specifically the
292:Gecarcoidea natalis
85: /
396:"Christmas Island"
374:"Christmas Island"
196:East India Company
41:Highest point
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1059:other territories
602:Gondwana Research
358:"SRTM 90m DEM v4"
320:Emoia nativitatis
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757:Sovereign states
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709:(in English)
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870:North Korea
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714:, GeoNames.
608:: 391–406.
325:robber crab
165:Murray Hill
130:Murray Hill
92: /
80:105°34′51″E
67:Coordinates
22:Murray Hill
995:Uzbekistan
970:Tajikistan
885:Kyrgyzstan
865:Kazakhstan
815:East Timor
785:Bangladesh
775:Azerbaijan
639:2013-04-30
345:References
279:weathering
176:rainforest
57:Prominence
1081:Hong Kong
1035:Palestine
960:Sri Lanka
955:Singapore
835:Indonesia
252:volcanics
232:Australia
224:Singapore
208:phosphate
105:Geography
77:10°29′0″S
47:Elevation
1101:Category
1025:Abkhazia
975:Thailand
930:Pakistan
910:Mongolia
905:Maldives
900:Malaysia
800:Cambodia
555:30 April
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473:30 April
402:30 April
380:30 April
146:Location
1000:Vietnam
915:Myanmar
895:Lebanon
825:Georgia
780:Bahrain
770:Armenia
285:Ecology
275:outcrop
226:(after
194:of the
186:History
1045:Taiwan
980:Turkey
945:Russia
880:Kuwait
860:Jordan
850:Israel
810:Cyprus
795:Brunei
790:Bhutan
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309:skinks
307:, and
203:Egeria
1086:Macau
1005:Yemen
965:Syria
940:Qatar
920:Nepal
855:Japan
830:India
820:Egypt
805:China
663:1 May
657:(PDF)
584:1 May
578:(PDF)
505:1 May
451:1 May
445:(PDF)
267:coral
248:atoll
925:Oman
890:Laos
845:Iraq
840:Iran
686:ISBN
665:2013
586:2013
557:2013
532:2013
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475:2013
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422:ISBN
404:2013
382:2013
301:and
212:lime
201:HMS
1057:and
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222:of
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
