Describes the birth and development of the basic types of islands--inland, coastal, and oceanic.

Describes the formation, naming, and colonization of the twenty-seven-year-old volcanic island Surtsey and how the first animals and plants became established there.

"...Gal̀pagos tells the complex story of a young volcanic ecosystem influenced by seasonal ocean currents, where food energy moves through integrated land and sea communities, each in its own season of growth and renewal. Millions of years ago, undersea volcanos in the eastern Pacific Ocean erupted, spewing up lava, rocks, and ash that eventually formed a cluster of islands: the archipelago known as the Gal̀pagos Islands. Over time, castaway plants...