Flora (Indonesia)

Administration

Flora belongs to the province of Nusa Tenggara Is. The island is cut out into 5 kabupaten (departments), that is to say of west in east:

Manggarai
Ngada
Ende
Sikka
Flora Timur.

Flora and fauna

Flora is located near the Ligne Wallace.

One can still observe some specimens of largest the Varan in the world (the Dragon of Komodo) in a free state on the Western coast of Flora.

History

In September 2003, in the cave of Liang Bua, on the Western coast of Flora, a team of paleontologists coordinated by Michael Morwood (University off New England, with Armidale in Australia) and Radien P. Soejono (Center indonésien for the archeology of Djakarta) discovered the remainders of a fossil Hominidé of an unknown species, initially called Homme of Flora .

The man of Flora seems to constitute a dwarf version of the species Homo erectus , extinct it there has a million years approximately, and received the scientific name of Homo floresiensis . The relatively recent age of the fossil (18 000 years) and its small size (approximately 1 meter for a brain of 380 cm) are surprising.

The inventors provided a moulding of cranium to Peter Brown which could study the skeleton over one three months period. The first results were published in two articles, of Nature on October 28th, 2004.

Culture

The island is with catholic majority, which constitutes the most outstanding trace of Portuguese colonization.

The spoken languages with Flores belong to the sub-group known as " Bima - sumba " branch Austronesian of the Languages austronésiennes.

In the districts of Ngada and Ende in the center of the island, the dialectal chain of Flora is Centers ( Central Flora Dialect Chain or Central Flora Linkage ). In this zone, there exist light linguistic variations from one village to another. On the whole six different languages were identified. West towards the east they are the ngadha or ngada, the stroke, the Keo, the Ende, the Lio and the Palu' E which is spoken on the island about the same name in north about Flora. One could also add the So' has and the Bajawa, although the anthropologists regard them as dialects of the ngadha.

Geology

From the geodynamic point of view, this island, broadside, in north, by the basin of Flora and, in the South, by the basin of Savu, are Volcan iquement active with at least 13 functional volcanos. In addition, it corresponds to a zone of strong seismic activity (Séisme of December 12th, 1992 magnitude 7,5).

Stratigraphic and magmatic analysis (geochronology, geochemistry) watch that Florès is a “young” island, being probably created with the higher Oligocène but surely with the average Miocène.

In detail one distinguishes:

a probable cycle Oligocene - average Miocène with superior characterized by:

- a volcanic axis E-W (Kiro formation) where 17 taken lava gives radiometric ages ranging between 16 My and 8,4 My (final Burdigalien in average Tortonien) and 1 lava 27,7 My and 25,7 My (Oligocene terminal);

- volcanogenic and sedimentary side deposits, hétérochrones, with the excessively altered microfaunes. One distinguishes nevertheless, upwards, the formation Nangapanda turbiditic and tufaceous of average miocene, the Bari formation, made limestones neritic with récifaux of average miocene with superior, the Laka formation chalky and tufaceous with pounces of higher miocene;

a cycle final miocene - plio-quaternary with dominant volcanic where 13 samples, including 2 Granodiorite S, were gone back radiométriquement to 6,7 My to 1,2 My.

Geochemical analysis of the volcanic rocks of the two cycles, previously definite (major elements, elements in traces, etc), watch which one has to make with an orogenetic magmatism insular Arc related to a Subduction. Flora is, for this purpose, with the Eastern termination of the marked out device of the Sonde, of west in is, by the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok and Sumbawa.

From the regional and chronological point of view, the magmatism appears in Florès when that of Sumba, having begun with the higher Crétacé, cease. Thus, with Oligocene, the island of Sumba leaves its position of active arc to position in the basin of before external arc, Florès taking its place then.

To Plio-Quaternary, the continental plate Australia, coming from the south, returns in collision with the plate Eurasia to the east, with the right of Timor. Nevertheless, of the first steps of collision are felt in the west, with the right of the studied sector, however still placed in the device of subduction, with the pure uplift of Sumba and the development of a rather modest meridian compression to the right of Flora, marked by a network of active faults combined and by, in the north of the island, the overlapping known as “of the sea of Flora”, with northern vergency, partly absorbing the shortening created.

Tourism

Principal tourist attraction with Florès is Kelimutu: they are three coloured lakes of the district of Ende. Their color changes systematically. The last colors, in 2003, were respectively turquoise, green and red but since the red lake would have become black.

Gallery

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