Mount Tapochau is the highest point on the island of

Saipan Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...

in the

Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territory and Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States consistin ...

. It is located in the center of the island, north of San Vicente village and northwest of Magicienne Bay, and rises to a height of 474 m (1555 ft). The mountain offers a 360 degree view of the island. Mount Tapochau was vital in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a result of this. As of 2016, the only road up to Mount Tapochau is a long, winding, uphill climb over endless loose rocks and massive potholes. The road looks as though it has been repeatedly eroded by heavy rain over many years. This path would be dangerous to traverse in wet weather and should only be approached in a heavy duty vehicle in dry weather. The trail up to the top is noted for plaques describing historical events, and the top is known for its excelled views- on clear day the island of Rota can be seen..

Geology

The base of Mount Tapochau is covered with

phosphate Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus. In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthop ...

manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically including metals, concentrated above background levels, and that is economically viable to mine and process. The grade of ore refers to the concentration ...

sulphur Sulfur (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundance of the chemical ...

, and

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. The peak is also a limestone formation.

References

History of Mount Taptochau

Geological sections across Saipan
(see section B) Landforms of the Northern Mariana Islands Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands Mountains of Oceania {{NorthernMarianas-geo-stub