Isla Ángel de la Guarda, also called Archangel Island, and called Xazl Iimt (ˈχaʃɬ ˈiːmt 'homes of the pumas' in the Seri language

Seri language

Seri is a language isolate spoken by the Seri people by between 716 and 900 people in two villages on the coast of Sonora, Mexico.-Classification:...

, is a large island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 in the Gulf of California

Gulf of California

The Gulf of California is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland...

 (Sea of Cortez) east of Bahía de los Ángeles

Bahía de los Ángeles

' is a coastal bay on the Sea of Cortez, located along the eastern shore of the Baja California Peninsula in the state of Baja California, Mexico...

, and separated from the Baja California Peninsula by the Canal de Ballenas (Whales Channel). It is the second largest of the eleven Midriff Islands or Islas Grandes. It is part of the state of Baja California

Baja California

Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...

, located northwest of Tiburón Island

Tiburón Island

Tiburón Island is both the largest island in the Gulf of California and the largest island in Mexico, with an area of . It was made a nature reserve in 1963 by President Adolfo López Mateos. Tiburón is Spanish for shark. The etymology of the Seri name is unknown...

. The island is uninhabited, and is a biological reserve called Isla Angel de la Guarda National Park. The island is part of the Mexicali municipality.

The geologically active Ballenas Fault

Ballenas Fault

The Ballenas Fault is a transform fault located on the seabed of the Gulf of California, extending through the Canal de Ballenas which separates the Isla Ángel de la Guarda from the Baja California Peninsula. The fault is an integral part of the East Pacific Rise, linking the Delfin Basin in the...

 runs along the seabed of the linear Canal de Ballenas. A 6.9 magnitude earthquake occurred on this fault in 2009.

Geography

The island is extremely dry, with no sources of freshwater other than washes

Arroyo (creek)

An arroyo , a Spanish word translated as brook, and also called a wash is usually a dry creek or stream bed—gulch that temporarily or seasonally fills and flows after sufficient rain. Wadi is a similar term in Africa. In Spain, a rambla has a similar meaning to arroyo.-Types and processes:Arroyos...

 following rainfall. It has an area of 931 square kilometres (359.5 sq mi) and a chain of mountains runs along its 69 km length, reaching a maximum of 1,300 meters (4,300 feet) above sea level

Sea level

Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...

. It runs northwest to southeast. The west coast is roughly straight in that direction, but the east coast runs inward near the middle before heading outward until it reaches the island's widest point. The coast then runs south for a while before finally returning to its southeasterly direction.

Much of the island is inaccessible due to mountains at or near the shore, especially on the west coast. There are a few flat areas on the coast at the outlets of washes that were created by sediment. These alluvial fan

Alluvial fan

An alluvial fan is a fan-shaped deposit formed where a fast flowing stream flattens, slows, and spreads typically at the exit of a canyon onto a flatter plain. A convergence of neighboring alluvial fans into a single apron of deposits against a slope is called a bajada, or compound alluvial...

s are mostly on the east coast, but a large one is found on the west coast where the island narrows in the middle.

Biology

Despite its extreme dryness, the island is relatively diverse in plant and animal life. There are many types of bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

s and reptile

Reptile

Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...

s, especially lizard

Lizard

Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...

s. The Angel Island Speckled Rattlesnake

Crotalus mitchellii angelensis

Crotalus mitchellii angelensis is a venomous pitviper subspecies endemic to Angel de la Guarda Island in the Gulf of California, Mexico.-Geographic range:Found only on Angel de la Guarda Island in the Gulf of California, Mexico...

 (Crotalus angelensis) and Angel Island mouse

Angel Island Mouse

The Angel Island mouse or La Guarda deermouse is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is endemic to Mexico, where it is historically known only from the island of Ángel de la Guarda, and nearby islets. The species is believed to be extirpated from the three smaller islands, and may be...

 (Peromyscus guardia) occur only on the island. The only mammals are bat

Bat

Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...

s, rodent

Rodent

Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....

s, and introduced feral cats. Plants include cacti

Cactus

A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae. Their distinctive appearance is a result of adaptations to conserve water in dry and/or hot environments. In most species, the stem has evolved to become photosynthetic and succulent, while the leaves have evolved into spines...

, grass

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

es, shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

s, succulents and boojums

Boojum tree

Fouquieria columnaris, the Boojum tree or cirio is a tree in the family Fouquieriaceae, whose other members include the ocotillos. It is nearly endemic to the Baja California Peninsula, with only a small population in the Sierra Bacha of Sonora, Mexico...

.

See also

• History of the west coast of North America
  History of the west coast of North America
  The human history of the west coast of North America is believed to stretch back to the arrival of the earliest people over the Bering Strait, or alternately along a now-submerged coastal plain, through the development of significant pre-Columbian cultures and population densities, to the arrival...
  
  
• Shipwrecked
• Death in the Sea of Cortez