Fergusson Island
- Landsat 7
- Path 94 Row 66
- 08 August 2000
Fergusson is the largest of the D'Entrecasteaux Islands with an area of 1,437 km², measuring 64 km in length with a widths varying from 7 to 30 km. It is situated 3 km across the Dawson Strait north of Normanby Island (visible at the bottom edge of the image) and 4 km southeast from Goodenough Island across the Moresby Strait.
The terrain of Fergusson is characterised by several dome-shaped mountains — similar features can be found on the other islands of the D'Entrecasteaux group. The mountains, which on Fergusson rise to over 2,000 m, are blocks of the Australian plate that were once thrust deep in to the Earth's crust by plate collision. Since that time, the process of density re-adjustment has seen these blocks rise and push through the overlying rocks and emerge as tall domed structures wrapped in pieces of the old sea floor that they thrust through.
The mountainous areas of Fergusson Island are thickly cloaked in rainforest; lower slopes are also forested and are home to endangered species such as the Fergusson Island Striped Possum (Dactylopsila tatei); coastal areas often contain grasslands or farmland.
