ABSTRACT
Islands are distributed across the globe, but this distribution is far from even. Nor can the distribution be described as random, given that the appearance of any island is a logical response, indeed presumably an inevitable response, to a set of physical circumstances operating at that place at the time of formation and since. Island formation can basically be subdivided into two main causes. First there are islands that are appended to a continental fringe and whose origin and formation are tied in to changes at the regional scale, such as those operated through glaciation and all that is associated with it, including isostatic and eustatic adjustments. Continental fringe islands can also result from the local scale operation of forces, such as erosion, weathering and deposition.
