Depraetere Christian auteur aut IRD text bookSection eng text/pdf born digital access Much has been said about islands but no global definition of this geographical phenomenon has so far been made available. A normative approach is consequently difficult to adopt. A database was put together involving 1,085 islands in the size range of 100km2 to 1,000,000km2. Each digitized file of the coastline is linked to the following information: name, country, basic planimetric figures (surface, coastal length), location (latitude and longitude in degrees), and scale of the map used for planimetric purposes. From this sample, a study of the relationships between surfaces and frequencies highlights a simple statistical law which can be related to properties of a fractal structure. A surface area-based hierarchical method is presented to depict the degree and type of ‘cephalic’ structure of the archipelago. Some coastal form indices are presented, with their significance related to the geomorphological context of some islands. specialized ILE ARCHIPEL BASE DE DONNEES HIERARCHIE MORPHOLOGIE COTE FRACTAL SUPERFICIE INSULARITE MONDE 021GEOGEN 122APPLIC Kelman I. ed. edt IRD Baldacchino G. ed. edt IRD 21 2016 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010067229 978-1-138-01459-6 [F B010067229] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010067229 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/depot/2016-07-12/010067229.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2016-07-12 2016-08-10 fdi:010067229 fre