. Elementary physical geography;. it. Findtwo such chains near theAmerican continent, twonear the Asian of this characterare usually called conti-nental islands; and thereason is obvious. Here and there are is-lands in mid-ocean, fardistant from any largebody of land. They arccalled oceanic stretch of the coast of Norway There i s n o d o u b t The coast, deeply indented with fjords, is bordered r ii • • r by many thousand rocky islets. regarding the Ollglll 01 some of them; they con-sist of the lava that has been ejected from volcanoes. Insome instances these islan
. Elementary physical geography;. it. Findtwo such chains near theAmerican continent, twonear the Asian of this characterare usually called conti-nental islands; and thereason is obvious. Here and there are is-lands in mid-ocean, fardistant from any largebody of land. They arccalled oceanic stretch of the coast of Norway There i s n o d o u b t The coast, deeply indented with fjords, is bordered r ii • • r by many thousand rocky islets. regarding the Ollglll 01 some of them; they con-sist of the lava that has been ejected from volcanoes. Insome instances these islands are solitary, as Jan Mayenand St. Helena; in others they form a chain, as theHawaiian group. The numerous islands in the Pacific Ocean form the granddivision Polynesia. These islands occur in regular chainsthat are roughly parallel; they are the higher summits ofsubmerged mountain-ranges. In some instances a vol-canic peak is in sight, but in others the position of eachpeak is marked by the reef of coral growth that encir-. LAND AND WATER 49 cles it. The islands themselves are popularly known ascoral islands. The coral polyps, of whose mineral remains these islands and reefsare formed, are an animal growth not unlike a tree with its mouths of the polyp completely cover its upper surface somewhatas the flowers of the hollyhock or mullein cluster about the stem. Ina single community the growth of the polyp is chiefly upward, but wherethe communities are thickly clustered, their branches interlock andfinally form a compact mass. The living portion of the coral reef isat the surface of the water or a few feet below it; the dead parts mayextend a hundred fathoms or more below the surface.
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