|
The park's 120.551 hectares are
divided into 76.214 ha of land and 44.337 ha of surrounding reef and sea. It
can roughly be separated into three areas: the triangular shaped Ujung kulon Peninsula, the Gunung Honje Rangeto the east of the
peninsula's isthmus and the island of Panaitan to the
northwest. The highest points in the park are the 620 meters Gunung Honje, the Gunung Payung Range peaks of up to 500 meters and Panaitan Island's Gunung Raksa at 320 meters. In
the central section of the Peninsula is a large region of wilderness known as
the Talanca Plateau which reaches 140 meters above sea level, however most
consist of low rolling terrain seldom more than 50 meters above sea level.
The park surrounded by unusually
warm water, seldom varying from between 29C to 30C. The coastlines of the park
are molded by the sea around them, battered by Indian
Ocean; the long sandy beaches of the south coast are backed by
dunes, lagoons and forest broken by rocky outcrops a wild and wind swept shore line. The west
coast's reef-lined shore has cliffs, promontories and towering sea-stacks along
sand and boulder beaches overhung by forest, creating the most spectacular
coastline in the park. On the north coast, the sheltered tropical straits lap
upon beaches of white sands and coral banks with islands, estuaries, swamps and
forest lined shores. Along each coastline is variety of seascape which in all
their diversity, offer a wide range of absorbing shoreline experiences.
GEOLOGY
The even that led to formation of
the land we as Ujung kulon began about 200 years ago when what is now the
Indian Continent broke away from the super-continent Gondwanaland. It collided
with the Asian continent creating huge ripples across the earth's crust forming
the snow-clad Himalaya along with Sumatra's
mountain range, Bukit Barisan. It believed that theUjung kulon Peninsula and the Gunung Honje Range were at that time the southern end of Bukit Barisan Rangeas Java andSumatrawere
connected by a land-bridge. Then 20.000 to 15.000 years ago, the bridge
collapsed to eventually form the Sunda Straita bout 9.500 years ago
How ever, the period when the
strait was formed is somewhat contradicted by an intriguing account in an early
Javanese chronicle The Book of Kings. It states that in the year 416 AD the
mountain Kapi (Krakatau) burst into peaces and sunk into deepest of the earth
and the sea flooded the land from Gunung Gede nearBogorto mountain Raja Basa in
Southern Sumatra. The chronicle concludes:
After the waters subsided the mountain Kapi and surrounding land became sea and
the island of Java was divided into two parts.
It is a curious fact that no sea
straits between Sumatra and Java was known before 1.100's by the far ranging
Chinese and Arabian traders and later European explores. Beneath the mountains
and forest of Ujung kulon, carved by the thousands of
centuries of rain, wind and sea, are foundation of the land - a young mountain
system formed over the older strata of the Sunda Shelf. Geologically, the Ujung kulon Peninsula, Gunung Honje Range and Panaitan Island are part of this young tertiary
mountain system while the central part of Ujung kulon is of older limestone
formations which have been covered by alluvial deposits in the north and sandstone
in the south. Much of underlying rocks and early soils of the park are covered
by volcanic ash, in places up to 1 meter deep, a legacy from the Krakatau eruptions.
The mountain ranges were all
formed by the same folding event in the Miocene period creating beneath the
forest of the Gunung Honje Range an eastward tilting mountain block. A reminder of this activity is a geological
fault line situated off the Tamanjaya coastline. It bisects the park beneath
the isthmus as it passes through the Sunda straits connecting the volcanic
islands of Krakatau to the major tectonic fault line to the south of Indonesia.
CLIMATE
Ujung kulon's tropical maritime
climate, somewhat cooler than inland areas of Java, produces an annual rainfall
of approximately 3.250 mm. Temperatures range between 25º and 30ºC, with a
humidity level generally between 80% and 90%. April to October are the drier
months, particularly between July to October. During these months there are
long period of fine, calm weather with occasional spells of overcast skies,
rain and rougher seas. The wetter season usually begins in November and
finishes in March bringing an average of 400 mm of rain per month. The heaviest
rains of December and January are often accompanied by squalls and strong
winds, clearing the atmosphere and producing
|
|
Copyright2008 © Krakatauujungkulontour.com, All Rights Reserved
| |
|
