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Maria Est
Maria Atoll is an uninhabited small atoll of the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. It is located in the far southeast of the archipelago, about southwest from Marutea Sud. Maria's closest neighbour is the small atoll of Matureivavao of the Acteon Group, to the northwest. Maria Atoll is oval in shape and bound by a continuous reef. It is 5.6 km long and 2.9 km wide. Its islands are low and flat and the lagoon is hypersaline. This atoll is mostly called "Maria Est" in order to avoid confusion with another small atoll called Maria (Nororotu) in the Tubuai (Austral Islands) division of French Polynesia. History The first recorded European who arrived at Maria Est was in 1829. On some maps, Maria Atoll appeared as "Moerenhout Island". Administration Administratively, Maria Est belongs to the commune of the Gambier Islands The Gambier Islands ( or ) are an archipelago in French Polynesia, located at the southeast terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago. They cover an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gambier Islands
The Gambier Islands ( or ) are an archipelago in French Polynesia, located at the southeast terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago. They cover an area of , and are made up of the Mangareva Islands, a group of high islands remnants of a caldera along with islets on the surrounding fringing reef, and the uninhabited Temoe atoll, which is located 45 km (28 mi) south-east of the Mangareva Islands. The Gambiers are generally considered a separate island group from Tuamotu both because their culture and language (Mangarevan language, Mangarevan) are much more closely related to those of the Marquesas Islands, and because, while the Tuamotus comprise several chains of coral atolls, the Mangareva Islands are of volcanic origin with central high islands. Administratively, the Gambier Islands are inside the Communes of France, commune of Gambier (commune), Gambier, which also includes several atolls in the Tuamotu Archipelago. The town hall (''mairie'') of the commune of Gambier is located o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuamotu
The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extending (from northwest to southeast) over an area roughly the size of Western Europe. Their combined land area is . This archipelago's major islands are Rangiroa, Anaa, Fakarava, Hao and Makemo. The Tuamotus have approximately 16,000 inhabitants. The islands were initially settled by Polynesians, and modern Tuamotuans have inherited from them a shared culture and the Tuamotuan language. The Tuamotus are a French overseas collectivity. History The early history of the Tuamotu islands is generally unknown. Archaeological findings suggest that the western Tuamotus were settled from the Society Islands as early as 900 CE or as late as 1200 CE. DNA evidence suggests that they were settled about 1110 CE. On the islands of Rangiroa, Manihi and Mataiva, there ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ﾃ四es Maria
ﾃ四es Maria or simply Maria, also known as Hull Island, is a small coral atoll in the Pacific Ocean. Its original name is Nororotu. The nearest island is Rimatara situated to the ESE. The atoll consists of four islets (''ﾃｮles''), with a dense atoll forest and a very shallow lagoon, supporting numerous bird species. The atoll is uninhabited. Copra is occasionally harvested at the island. The four islands are: # ﾃ四e du Sud # ﾃ四e Centrale # ﾃ四e de l' Ouest # ﾃ四e du Nordﾃｪt The ﾃ四es Maria should not be confused with Maria Est, Maria Atoll in the Gambier Islands, also in French Polynesia, which is sometimes differentiated with the name "Maria Est" (East). There is also another island once known as Hull Island in the Phoenix Islands, which is now known as Orona. History According to Polynesian legend, the uninhabited island was discovered by Chief Ama'itera'i of Rurutu in ancient times. It was made a place of exile by King Teuruarii IV and his mother and regent Taarouru. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hypersaline Lake
A hypersaline lake is a landlocked body of water that contains significant concentrations of sodium chloride, brines, and other salts, with saline levels surpassing those of ocean water (3.5%, i.e. ). Specific microbial species can thrive in high-salinity environments that are inhospitable to most lifeforms, including some that are thought to contribute to the color of pink lakes. Some of these species enter a dormant state when desiccated, and some species are thought to survive for over 250 million years. The water in hypersaline lakes has great buoyancy due to its high salt content. Hypersaline lakes are found on every continent, especially in arid or semi-arid regions. In the Arctic, the Canadian Devon Ice Cap contains two subglacial lakes that are hypersaline. In Antarctica, there are larger hypersaline water bodies, lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys such as Lake Vanda with salinity of over 35% (i.e. 10 times as salty as ocean water). The most saline water body ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reef
A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geology), deposition of sand or wave erosion planning down rock outcrops. However, reefs such as the coral reefs of tropical waters are formed by biotic component, biotic (living) processes, dominated by corals and coralline algae. Artificial reefs, such as shipwrecks and other man-made underwater structures, may occur intentionally or as the result of an accident. These are sometimes designed to increase the physical complexity of featureless sand bottoms to attract a more diverse range of organisms. They provide shelter to various aquatic animals which help prevent extinction. Another reason reefs are put in place is for aquaculture, and fish farmers who are looking to improve their businesses sometimes invest in them. Reefs are often quite n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acteon Group
The Acteon Group (Groupe Actﾃｩon) is a rather isolated and uninhabited subgroup in the far southeast of the Tuamotu atoll group in French Polynesia. It is located about east-southeast of Tahiti at latitude: 21ﾂｰ 17' 60 S, longitude: 136ﾂｰ 29' W. Atolls The Acteon Group includes four atolls of relatively small size: * Matureivavao * Tenararo * Tenarunga * Vahanga None of the islands on these atolls have permanent inhabitants, except for Tenarunga. History The first recorded European to sight the Acteon Group was Pedro Fernﾃ｡ndez de Quirﾃｳs Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meani ... on 5 February 1605. He described the group as ''"four atolls crowned by coconut palms"''. On the different texts describing his voyage by other members of this Spanish expedition they were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matureivavao
Matureivavao, or Maturei-vavao is an uninhabited atoll in the Acteon Group in the southeastern part of the Tuamotu Islands. It is the largest atoll within the Acteon Group, and like others in this group, is administratively part of the commune of the Gambier Islands. Geography Matureivavao is about long in a NNW-SSE direction and wide. It has a land area of and a lagoon area of . It lies southeast of Tenarunga and from Tahiti. The atoll is high enough to be visible from a considerable distance. It appears as a sandy beach, backed by a line of dark green. In bad weather, the seas sometimes sweep over the reef. There is no entrance to the lagoon. In some maps, this atoll also appears as "Melbourne". History The first recorded sighting of this atoll was made during the Spanish expedition of the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernﾃ｡ndez de Quirﾃｳs on 5 February 1606 under the name ''Las Cuatro Coronadas'' (the "four crowned" (by coconut palms)), however, these observations were n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marutea Sud
Marutea Atoll (Marutea Sud), also known as Lord Hood Island, Marutea-i-runga, and Nuku-nui, is an atoll in the far southeast of the Tuamotu group of French Polynesia. It lies in the east-northeast part of the Gambier (commune), about 72 km northeast from Maria Atoll. Marutea Atoll is irregular in shape and bound by a reef broken by passes into the lagoon. It is long with a maximum width of and a land area of approximately . Its islands are low and flat and the main village, Auorotini, is located at the northern end of the atoll. It is populated by ex Gambier Islanders looking for pearls and maintaining the pearl farms on the atoll. Marutea Sud should not be confused with Marutea Nord located in the western area of the Tuamotu Archipelago at 17ﾋ 07' S, 143ﾋ 11' W. History The first recorded European to sight this atoll was Spanish explorer Pedro Fernﾃ｡ndez de Quirﾃｳs on 4 February 1606. He called it ''San Telmo''. Other Spanish names were ''San Blas'', given by de Q ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the origin of the term), the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the Stockholm Archipelago, the Malay Archipelago (which includes the Indonesian and Philippine Archipelagos), the Lucayan (Bahamian) Archipelago, the Japanese archipelago, and the Hawaiian Archipelago. Etymology The word ''archipelago'' is derived from the Italian ''arcipelago'', used as a proper name for the Aegean Sea, itself perhaps a deformation of the Greek ﾎ対ｹﾎｳﾎｱﾎｯﾎｿﾎｽ ﾎﾎｭﾎｻﾎｱﾎｳﾎｿﾏ. Later, usage shifted to refer to the Aegean Islands (since the sea has a large number of islands). The erudite paretymology, deriving the word from Ancient Greek 眈ﾏﾏﾎｹ-(''arkhi-'', "chief") and ﾏﾎｭﾎｻﾎｱﾎｳﾎｿﾏ (''pﾃｩlagos'', "sea"), proposed by Buondelmonti, can still be found. Geograph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atoll
An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most of the approximately 440 atolls in the world are in the Pacific Ocean. Two different, well-cited models, the subsidence model and the antecedent karst model, have been used to explain the development of atolls.Droxler, A.W. and Jorry, S.J., 2021. "The Origin of Modern Atolls: Challenging Darwin's Deeply Ingrained Theory". ''Annual Review of Marine Science'', 13, pp. 537窶573. According to Charles Darwin's subsidence model, the formation of an atoll is explained by the sinking of a volcanic island around which a coral fringing reef has formed. Over geologic time, the volcanic island becomes extinct and eroded as it subsides completely beneath the surface of the ocean. As the volcanic island subsides, the coral fringing reef becomes a ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austral Islands
The Austral Islands ( officially ''Archipel des Australes;'' ) are the southernmost group of islands in French Polynesia, an overseas country of France, overseas country of the France, French Republic in the Oceania, South Pacific. Geographically, they consist of two separate archipelagos, namely in the northwest the Tupua'i islands () consisting of the ﾃ四es Maria, Rimatara, Rﾅｫrutu, Tupua'i Island proper and Ra'ivﾄ」ae, and in the southeast the Bass Islands (French Polynesia), Bass Islands () composed of the main island of Rapa Iti and the small Marotiri (Austral Islands), Marotiri (also known as Bass Rocks or ﾃ四ots de Bass). Inhabitants of the islands are known for their pandanus fiber weaving skills. The islands of Maria and Marotiri are not suitable for sustained habitation. Several of the islands have uninhabited islets or rocks off their coastlines. Austral Islands' population is 6,965 on almost . The capital of the Austral Islands administrative subdivision is Tupua'i. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gambier (commune)
Gambier () is a commune of French Polynesia in the administrative subdivision of the Tuamotu-Gambier Islands. The commune includes the Gambier Islands as well as several atolls in the Tuamotu Archipelago (the Acteon Group and the isolated atolls of Maria Est, Morane, and Marutea Sud). All the Tuamotu atolls belonging to the commune are uninhabited except for Marutea Sud, and are sometimes mistakenly included among the Gambier Islands themselves. The commune population was 1,570 at the 2022 census. Its total land area is 45.97 km2. Administration The commune of Gambier is made up of the following islands: * Akamaru *Angakauitai * Aukena * Kamaka * Makaroa *Mangareva * Manui * Maria * Marutea Sud * Matureivavao * Morane * Taravai * Temoe *Tenararo *Tenarunga *Vahanga The chef-lieu of the commune is the village Rikitea [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
