Amazing Tabor Island - fiction or reality?

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

In the 15th century, the era of great geographical discoveries began in the history of mankind, which continued until the 17th century. At this time, seafarers-travelers go in search of trading partners. Hitherto unknown lands are being opened up, new routes are being laid, people's knowledge of our planet is greatly expanding. A general map of the globe is being created, where previously unknown continents and states are marked.

A large number of islands are plotted on the geographic atlas of the world, the existence of which has not been officially confirmed. When it seems that all uninhabited corners have long been open, white spots on the map excite the imagination.

The island where Harry Grant waited for rescue

The amazing Tabor Island is familiar to us from Jules Verne's novels "The Mysterious Island" and "Children of Captain Grant". The courageous hero of adventure books Harry Grant, whose ship was wrecked, reached a small patchsushi, where Glenarvan's expedition found it.

The author himself, who initiated the genre of science fiction, sincerely believed that Tabor Island really existed. Maria Teresa Reef is its second name (it was under this name that the part of the land surrounded by water was listed on English and German maps).

First post about a small patch of sushi

It is curious that this piece of land was first reported by the captain of the ship Taber in 1843. Until the middle of the 20th century, the island was depicted on all geographical maps. Even the "Great Soviet Encyclopedia", one of the most respected sources, confirms this fact, designating the coordinates of Tabor Island as 37 ° 00' S. sh. and 151°13'E. e.

Unsuccessful search for the mysterious land

In 1957, travelers, who are devoted admirers of the works of the French writer, set off on a long journey. What was their disappointment with the fact that no traces of the existence of the island were found at the place of the indicated coordinates.

Nine years later, however, GQ, the men's monthly magazine, published an article that caused a huge response. The description and photos of Tabor Island are published, and millions of readers around the world are wondering if these are real images, or if the editors are thus drawing attention to their publication by fabricating pictures. Most people tend to think that this is still a publicity stunt.

In the 70s of the last century, a famous New Zealand expedition set off tosearches for an island in the Pacific Ocean, but does not find a single piece of land in this place that fits the description. Tabor Island is considered a ghost, but the fictional land is still put on world maps, and a non-existent corner flaunts on the 37th parallel of south latitude (an imaginary line) until the 70s of the last century.

New expeditions

After ten years, the data is updated, and the coordinates are rechecked again. Now they look like this: 36°50' S. sh. and 136°39'E. e. This means that the reef is more than 1000 kilometers from here, and the search was carried out at all in the wrong place. The new expedition instead of the island discovers only powerful mountains, the tops of which rest above the water.

Pumice Island?

Geologists express an interesting opinion that Tabor Island is a pumice overgrown with vegetation, spit out sometime during the eruption of an underwater volcano and drifting across the ocean. That is why its coordinates change every time.

Foamed volcanic glass instantly solidifies, forming a porous substance that floats beautifully in water. Since pumice is a rather fragile material, the islands consisting of it are quickly destroyed under the influence of wave impacts. On such blocks, found in a cozy harbor, far from the strong currents of the ocean, algae grow, birds rest, and even animals feed on fish. Lands of pumice move great distances, but eventually they break apart and sink to the bottom.

Phantom missing from modern maps

Allthe rest of the search for a mysterious patch of land does not lead to success, and Western scientists say that the reef is most likely a phantom one. Thus, its existence at the end of the last century is questioned.

In our century, a virtual globe - a Google Earth project that helps to look into the most remote corners of the planet Earth, answers all requests about the mystical Tabor Island that it is absent from satellite images and modern maps.