current beacon is a stone tower painted white. As the base of the tower is at an elevation of about above sea level, the beacon is at above sea level. The lighthouse's signal is visible from away on clear days, although there have been reports of seeing it from the southeastern part of São Miguel and the northeastern part of Santa Maria. In rough seas, waves completely immerse the tower. As early as 1883 the Portuguese government formally recognized the dangers posed by the Formigas to navigation and proposed building a lighthouse on the islets, but nothing was constructed at the time. On 2 March 1895, at the General Meeting of the Autonomous District of Ponta Delgada, the District initiated construction of lighthouses on São Miguel and Santa Maria. Because of this, and also due to the technical difficulties of building a lighthouse in that era in a place so inhospitable as the Formigas, construction of a lighthouse on the islets themselves was further delayed. Finally, in the summer of 1948 the Portuguese government began a complex operation to build a lighthouse on Formigão. In order to land personnel and equipment on the islet, the workers first had to break away subsurface rocks and build a wharf. Despite various interruptions to the work due to rough seas and inclement weather, in 36 days the workers managed to build a small beacon. In 1962 the Portuguese Navy's lightship NRP Almirante Schultz anchored at the Formigas and was used as a work base for renovating and modernizing the lighthouse. In the succeeding years the lighthouse was further modernized: the beacon now runs on solar power and its old acetylene lamp has been replaced with a newer model. Geography The islets are composed of basalt flows that occurred approximately 4 million years ago, although calcareous fossiliferous sediments dating to 4-6 million years ago have been discovered. The bank extends for from northwest to southeast and is wide. Due to strong currents and frequent large swells the linear rock outcroppings lack any terrestrial flora or fauna. Along the archipelago's perimeter, the seabed drops steeply to a depth of on either side, and gently at the northern and southern tips. The area of the bank referred to as the Dollabarat Reef is an area of shallower gradient situated along the southwest of the Formigas Islets. Formigas is Portuguese for ants, as the small and dispersed