Floating island

Natural floating islands are composed of vegetation growing on a buoyant mat of plant roots or other organic detritus.

They typically occur when growths of cattails, bulrush, sedge, and reeds extend outward from the shoreline of a wetland area.

[1] In the Brazilian Amazon, floating islands form in lakes on the floodplains of white-water rivers and are known as Matupá and range in size from a few square meters to a few hectares.

[2] In Crow Wing County, Minnesota a floating bog over four acres (1.6 ha) in size moved about the area resulting in docks and boat lifts being destroyed.

Floating gardens on a large scale have been demonstrated with aquaponics[5] systems in China growing rice, wheat and canna lily on islands.

During World War II, the British Project Habakkuk proposed the construction of aircraft carriers made of ice-like Pykrete.

Floating habitat islands were installed with salicornia salt marsh plants at Sydney Olympic Park Authority in 2011[8] providing nesting sites for local and migratory birds including black swans, black-winged stilts, red-necked avocets, Pacific black ducks and chestnut teals, using the Aqua Biofilter product.

The floating island was created to mimic nature; help improve water quality, including reducing phosphorus levels; and buffer habitats against surges in nutrients and pollution.