Île Sans Nom
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Nickname: Île Mystérieuse or Tahiti | |
|---|---|
 A 2018 photograph of the island; in the left mid-distance | |
  Île Sans Nom | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Gironde estuary |
| Coordinates | 45°36′00″N 01°09′09″W / 45.60000°N 1.15250°W |
| Administration | |
| Department | Gironde |
The Île Sans Nom (French: Island With No Name), also known as the Île Mystérieuse (Mysterious Island) or Tahiti, is an island in the Gironde estuary in south-west France. It appeared after the 2009 Cyclone Klaus led to increased deposition of sediment and lies near the historic Cordouan Lighthouse. It is regarded as an important emerging ecosystem and efforts have been made to protect the island from human intrusion. Officially it lies within the department of Gironde but in 2015 was occupied by a group claiming it for Charente-Maritime.
The island, known as Île Sans Nom (French: island with no name), appeared after Cyclone Klaus struck the Gironde estuary on 23 January 2009.[1] A European windstorm that progressed through France, Spain and Italy killing 26 people and causing widespread destruction, the cyclone caused rapid coastal erosion in Charente-Maritime.[1][2] Some of the sediment accumulated in the estuary, adjacent to the Cordouan platform, the remains of an earlier limestone island since lost to erosion. The platform, partly exposed at low tide, is the site of France's oldest standing lighthouse, the 1611 Cordouan Lighthouse.[1] The sediment augmented an existing sand bank approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the lighthouse until it became a permanent fixture, visible at high tide.[1]
Soon after it formed the island, lying at the boundary between the estuary and the Atlantic Ocean, was measured at 11 acres (4.5 ha) above high tide level and some 240 acres (97 ha) in the intertidal zone.[1] Initially unclaimed by any local municipality the island came to be known as Île Sans Nom but was also named L'Île Mystérieuse by locals after the 1875 Jules Verne novel.[3][1][2] It was considered possible at the time that the island would disappear as quickly as it had appeared, though some experts considered it could become permanent.[1]
