Cay

A cay (/ˈkiː/ or /ˈkeɪ/), also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island on the surface of a coral reef. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans (including in the Caribbean and on the Great Barrier Reef and Belize Barrier Reef).

Formation and composition

A cay forms when ocean currents transport loose sediment across the surface of a reef to a depositional node, where the current slows or converges with another current, releasing its sediment load. Gradually, layers of deposited sediment build up on the reef surface. Such nodes occur in windward or leeward areas of reef where surfaces sometimes occur around an emergent outcrop of old reef or beach rock.

The island resulting from sediment accumulation is made up almost entirely of biogenic sediment – the skeletal remains of plants and animals – from the surrounding reef ecosystems. If the accumulated sediments are predominantly sand, then the island is called a cay; if they are predominantly gravel, the island is called a motu.

Sand Cay

Sand Cay 10°23′N 114°29′E / 10.383°N 114.483°E / 10.383; 114.483, also known as Son Ca Island (Tagalog: Bailan; Chinese: 敦谦沙洲; pinyin: Dunqian Shazhou; Vietnamese: đảo Sơn Ca) is a cay in the Tizard Bank of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. With an area of 7 hectares (17 acres), it is the ninth largest, and the fourth largest Vietnamese-occupied, of the Spratly Islands. The island has been occupied by Vietnam since 1974, (first by the Republic of Vietnam, then by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam after 1975). It is also claimed by the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and the Philippines.

Geography

Part of the Tizard Bank, Sand Cay lies 6.2 nautical miles (11.5 km; 7.1 mi) east of Itu Aba Island, which is occupied by the Republic of China (Taiwan). It is 450 metres (1,480 ft) long, 102 metres (335 ft) wide, and has an elevation of 3.5 metres (11 ft) to 3.8 metres (12 ft) at low tide. There is a 41 metres (135 ft) high light house on the islet. Sand Cay is commonly confused with Sandy Cay which is a sandy shoal (coral reef) near Thitu Island.

Cay (band)

Cay were a London-based alternative rock band (containing members from the Netherlands, Sweden, England and Northern Ireland) who were active in the late 1990s. The band released one album and recorded several radio sessions for the BBC.

History

Cay formed in Camden, London in the mid-1990s around the nucleus of Dutch singer/rhythm guitarist Anet Mook and Swedish guitarist/pianist Nicky Olofsson, who were musical and romantic partners. The lineup solidified with the addition of London bass guitarist Tom Harrison and Northern Irish drummer Mark Bullock. The band name was hastily improvised from the initials of one of their demo tracks ("Cool As You") when Mook was talking to a record company.

"'Reasonable Ease...' is technically very variant with fast bits, slow bits, etc, but what we play within those parts is actually quite simple. On the other hand, a track like 'Better than Myself' is structurally very straightforward, but the parts we play that make up that structure are more technically difficult than a track that appears superficially to be pretty tricky. I guess it's safe to say that most of our songs are challenging in some way, even 'School' has a quirky time change throughout that means we can't fall asleep in the middle of it! In short, all our songs are fun to play. No-one ever complains that a part is boring for them to play, or if they do they get told to shut up and use their imagination to liven it up. I think that's what makes us a little bit better than a straightforward punk band."

Maya mythology

Maya mythology is part of Mesoamerican mythology and comprises all of the Maya tales in which personified forces of nature, deities, and the heroes interacting with these play the main roles. Other parts of Maya oral tradition (such as animal tales and many moralising stories) do not properly belong to the domain of mythology, but rather to legend and folk tale.

Sources

The oldest written myths date from the 16th century and are found in historical sources from the Guatemalan Highlands. The most important of these documents is the Popol Vuh or 'Book of the Council' which contains Quichean creation stories and some of the adventures of the Hero Twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque

Yucatán is an equally important region. The Books of Chilam Balam contain mythological passages of great antiquity, and mythological fragments are found scattered among the early-colonial Spanish chronicles and reports, chief among them Diego de Landa's Relación, and in the dictionaries compiled by the early missionaries.

Cay (volcano)

Cay is a stratovolcano in the South Volcanic Zone of the Andes in Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Region, Chile. The volcano is located 15 km northeast of the larger Maca Volcano and about 230 km of the Chile Trench at the intersection of NW-SE and NE-SW faults of the Liquiñe-Ofqui Fault Zone. The volcano is composed from basalt and dacite and there is no evidence of Holocene activity. Below 1000m, several parasitic cones lie on the southwest flank of the volcano.

See also

References