Pinnacle Rock (Galápagos)

Pinnacle Rock (Spanish: Roca del Pináculo) is a distinctive volcanic plug on Bartolomé Island, one of Ecuador's Galápagos Islands.^[1]^[2] It is beside Sulivan Bay, part of a channel that separates Bartolomé from nearby Santiago Island. The rock is part of a now largely eroded volcanic dike that once connected the two islands. Several endemic species of lichen in the genus Ramalina have been found on Pinnacle Rock.^[3]

Pinnacle Rock with Santiago in the background

Travel writers describe the rock as one of the most spectacular views in the Islands.^[1]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7] A colony of penguins makes its home at the foot of the rock.^[8] Tourists dive in scenic reefs offshore of the rock.

[1]
Annie Fitzsimmons (2014-12-10). "What They Don't Tell You About the Galápagos". National Geographic. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved 2020-04-19. One morning, we woke up at 5:30 a.m. for a hike on Bartolomé Island, where we climbed 326 steps to take in one of the most iconic formations in the Galápagos—Pinnacle Rock.
[2]
Paul Tasch (Autumn 1978). "Galapagos Islands: Geological Field Notes: New Data". Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science. 81 (3): 231–241. doi:10.2307/3627258. JSTOR 3627258. At the northern end of Sullivan Bay, Pinnacle Rock rises to a sharp pointed prominence (Fig 12). This was originally a part of the volcanic mass that now occurs behind it on the island. If subsequently marine erosion separated it from the island it would be a stack. After that volcanic boulders and a sand beach appear to have connected it once again to the mainland, to which it is very close. If so it would be a tombolo. The other scenario would place it, as a proto-stack if never completely severed from the island at its base (now covered by boulders and sand).
[3]
A. Aptroot; F. Bungartz (2007). "The lichen genus Ramalina on the Galapagos". The Lichenologist. 39 (6): 535. doi:10.1017/S0024282907006901. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
[4]
Tom McNamara (2020-01-18). "Galapagos Evolved: Land-based Pikaia Lodge embraces green living". Vancouver Sun. Pinnacle Rock, Galapagos. Retrieved 2020-04-19. The shoreline reef around Pinnacle Rock on Bartolome Island is just one site that is teeming with shy reef sharks, giant parrotfish, schools of sardines, and many other fish species.
[5]
Lea Lane (2019-07-13). "Silversea's Eco-Friendly New Ship, Customized For The Galapagos, Coming In 2020". Forbes magazine. Retrieved 2020-04-19. Guests traveling westbound with Silversea will witness geological features, including Kicker Rock and Pinnacle Rock, and a Zodiac ride to Buccaneer's Cove, once a refuge for pirates.
[6]
Henry Nicholls (2014). "The Galapagos: A Natural History". Basic Books. ISBN 9780465035953. Retrieved 2020-04-19. There are few better than those glimpsed from the top of Bartolome, a spot that looks out on one of the most famous and photographed panoramas in the Galapagos. Gazing east, there the pockmarked remains of several splatter cones. To the west, there are remains of an eroded tuff cone known as Pinnacle Rock.
[7]
Christopher Minster (2011). Paula Newton (ed.). Viva Travel Guides Galapagos. Viva Publishing Network. ISBN 9780982558515. Retrieved 2020-04-19. On one side of Bartolome is the famous Pinnacle Rock, a rocky formation pointing skyward. Legend has it that Pinnacle Rock was bombed into shape in the 1940s by American servicemen testing their ordinance.
[8]
Jeannette Sanderson (2010). My Trip to the Galapagos Islands. Benchmark Education Company. pp. 10–11. ISBN 9781936258277. Retrieved 2020-04-19.

Pinnacle Rock (Galápagos)

References

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