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Krakatoa. One hundred ... globe. This power was from the explosion of Krakatoa,
an island volcano that lies in the Sunda Strait. The ...
Krakatoa. Krakatau Krakatau (Krakatoa), is said to have created the worst
volcanic eruptions in history, in 1883. Ancient Krakatoa ...
Krakatoa. Origin and ... km). The eruptions diminished rapidly after that point,
and by the morning of August 28 Krakatoa was quiet. [edit ...
... treasure. Text to World: As soon as Professor William Waterman Sherman started
walking on Krakatoa he experienced earthquakes. The ...
... Wells turned Javelle into Lavelle of Java, an island much on people's minds because
of the explosion there in 1883 of Mount Krakatoa, which killed 50,000 ...
Submitted by jasonahulsey on November 19, 2006
Category: Science
Words: 3033 | Pages: 13
Views: 348
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Origin and spelling of the name
The earliest mention of the island in the Western world was on a map by Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer, who labelled the island "Pulo Carcata." ("Pulo" is a form of pulau, the Indonesian word for "island".) There are two generally accepted spellings, Krakatoa and Krakatau. While Krakatoa is more common in the English-speaking world, Krakatau (or Krakatao in an older Portuguese based spelling) tends to be favored by Indonesians. The origin of the spelling Krakatoa is unclear, but may have been the result of a typographical error made in a British source reporting on the massive eruption of 1883.
Theories as to the origin of the Indonesian name Krakatau include:
* Onomatopoeia, imitating the noise made by white parrots that used to inhabit the island.
* From Sanskrit karka or karkata or karkataka, meaning "lobster" or "crab".
* From Malay kelakatu, meaning "white-winged ant".
There is a popular story that Krakatau was the result of a linguistic error. According to legend, "Krakatau" was adopted when a visiting ship's captain asked a local inhabitant the island's name, and the latter replied "Kaga tau" a Jakartan/Betawinese slang phrase meaning "I don't know". This story is largely discounted; it closely resembles famous linguistic myths about the origin of the word kangaroo and the name of the Yucatán Peninsula.
The name is spelled Karata on a map drawn before 1708. [citation needed]
[edit] Before 1883
[edit] Geography
The Sunda Strait
Enlarge
The Sunda Strait
Before the 1883 eruption, Krakatoa consisted of three main islands: Lang ('Long', now called Rakata Kecil or Panjang) and Verlaten ('Forsaken' or 'Deserted', now Sertung), which were edge remnants of a previous very large caldera-forming eruption; and Krakatoa itself, an island 9 km long by 5 km wide. Also there was...
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