Niuafoʻou
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Niuafoou (meaning 'many new coconuts') is the northernmost island in the kingdom of
Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...
. One of the
Niua Islands Niua is a divisions of Tonga, division of the Kingdom of Tonga, namely the northernmost group of islands. It consists of three islands (Niuafoʻou, Niuatoputapu and Tafahi) which together have an area of 71.69 km2 and a population of 1,150. Th ...
, it is located in the southern
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
between
Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
and
Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...
, north of
Tongatapu Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukuʻalofa, Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with 74,611 residents (2016), 70.5% o ...
island group and northwest of
Vavaʻu Vavau is an island group, consisting of one large island (ʻUtu Vavaʻu) and 40 smaller ones, in Tonga. It is part of Administrative divisions of Tonga, Vavaʻu District, which includes several other individual islands. According to tradition, ...
. It is a
volcanic A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...
rim island with an area of and a population of 431 (as of 2021). The volcano is active and has erupted regularly since 1814, with its last major eruption in 1985. The
Niuafoʻou language Niuafoou, or Niuafoʻouan, is the language spoken on Tonga's northernmost island, Niuafoou. Niuafoʻouan has traditionally been classified as closest to Fakauvea, Uvean and Tokelauan language, Tokelauan, in an East Uvean–Niuafoʻou branch. H ...
is spoken on the island.


Geography

Niuafoou is a volcano located on an underwater ridge west of the line along which all the other volcanoes of Tonga are ranged. The island contains a steep-sided
caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...
; its rim is over high. It rises to a height of at Mokotu. The coastline is rocky and steep, with only a few beaches, all of which are stony, with
black sand Black sand is sand that is black in color. One type of black sand is a heavy, glossy, partly magnetic mixture of usually fine sands containing minerals such as magnetite, found as part of a placer deposit. Another type of black sand, found on ...
. The only landing place on the island is at the end of a
lava flow Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...
in Futu, in the western part of the island. All the villages are in the north and east. Public places — like the post office, telecommunications station and airport ( Kuini Lavinia Airport) — are in Angahā in the north; there's a high school in Mua. The island ring encloses two lakes. The larger one, Vai Lahi, is a
crater lake Crater Lake ( Klamath: ) is a volcanic crater lake in south-central Oregon in the Western United States. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is a tourist attraction for its deep blue color and water clarity. T ...
above
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...
, wide, and deep. It contains three islands and a submerged island that appears when the water level drops. Vai Lahi is separated from the smaller lake, Vai Siʻi (or Vai Mataʻaho), by a desolate landscape of sand hills. The inner walls of the crater lake, and the island's eastern and western slopes, are forested. Either one or both are
soda lake A soda lake or alkaline lake is a lake on the strongly base (chemistry), basic side of neutrality, typically with a pH, pH value between 9 and 12. They are characterized by high concentrations of carbonate salts, typically sodium carbonate (and ...
s.


Volcanic activity

The island is an active volcano, and has erupted regularly since 1814. In 1853, an eruption destroyed the village of ʻAhau and killed 25 people. An eruption beginning in August 1886 destroyed buildings and crops and created a new island in the lake. Another in 1912 involved thirty active cones and threw lava to a height of 500 feet. In 1929 an eruption destroyed the village of Futu, cut off the harbor, and killed all the vegetation on the western slopes of the island. In December 1935 an eruption centered on the Ahofakatau and Hina craters caused the evacuation of Belani and Togamamao, and produced a two-mile wide lava-flow. An eruption in September 1943 destroyed crops but caused no loss of life. A serious eruption began on 9 September 1946, beginning with a series of tremors and then a lava flow which destroyed the village of Angaha, including the government buildings and the wireless station. The village of Aleleuta was also destroyed, and lava flows had left only one third of the island still habitable. When radio contact was lost, an RNZAF aircraft on a flight to
Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...
was requested to investigate, and reported the eruption to the outside world. The eruption was followed by a series of violent earthquakes. While the inhabitants initially planned to stay, in mid-October the Tongan government issued a compulsory evacuation order. An initial attempt to evacuate the island using the New Zealand vessel ''Matua'' failed, as the ship arrived before the inhabitants were ready. The island was finally evacuated on December 21. The inhabitants were resettled in Nukualofa, where land had been provided by Queen Salote. In 1948 they were resettled in
ʻEua ʻEua is an island in the kingdom of Tonga. It is close to Tongatapu, but forms a separate administrative division. It has an area of , and a population in 2021 of 4,903 people. The island leads in agriculture, tourism, and some of the forest ...
. When they resettled, they named various places in ʻEua after the places they’d known in Niuafoʻou. As a result, the two islands now have many of the same place names, and a comparison of names on the two islands shows where each group of settled. In 1958, about half of the population returned to Niuafo'ou, and the rest remained in 'Eua.


Geology

It is an diameter
shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more viscous lava ...
, with a broad lava shield capped by the remnants of a composite cone, which was destroyed during a
caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...
-forming eruption. The lavas contain variable amounts of
subduction Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere and some continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at the convergent boundaries between tectonic plates. Where one tectonic plate converges with a second p ...
related components inherited from the Tonga subduction zone to the east in the
tholeiitic magma series The tholeiitic magma series () is one of two main magma series in subalkaline igneous rocks, the other being the calc-alkaline series. A magma series is a chemically distinct range of magma compositions that describes the evolution of a mafic ...
. These components result in a combination of
MORB A mid-ocean ridge (MOR) is a seafloor mountain system formed by plate tectonics. It typically has a depth of about and rises about above the deepest portion of an ocean basin. This feature is where seafloor spreading takes place along a div ...
-like characteristics with those of
ocean island basalt Ocean island basalt (OIB) is a volcanic rock, usually basaltic in composition, erupted in oceans away from tectonic plate boundaries. Although ocean island basaltic magma is mainly erupted as basalt lava, the basaltic magma is sometimes modified ...
.


Climate

Like most of Tonga, Niuafo'ou has a
tropical climate Tropical climate is the first of the five major climate groups in the Köppen climate classification identified with the letter A. Tropical climates are defined by a monthly average temperature of or higher in the coolest month, featuring hot te ...
, with the temperature being warm year-round. On 1 February 2016, the temperature of reached on the island is the highest temperature ever recorded in Tonga.


History

According to Niuafoou folklore, Niuafoou island originally had a mountain, rather than a lake in the middle. But the mountain was stolen one night and placed in the sea, and became the island of Tafahi. Niuafoou was put on the European maps by
Willem Schouten Willem Cornelisz Schouten (1625) was a Dutch navigator for the Dutch East India Company. He was the first to sail the Cape Horn route to the Pacific Ocean. Biography Willem Cornelisz Schouten was born around 1567 in Hoorn, Holland, Seve ...
and
Jacob Le Maire Jacob Le Maire (c. 1585 – 22 December 1616) was a Dutch mariner who circumnavigated the Earth in 1615 and 1616. The strait between Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados was named the Le Maire Strait in his honour, though not without contro ...
during their famous circumnavigation of the globe in 1616. After their not so successful encounter with the islanders of
Niuatoputapu Niuatoputapu (''The Sacred Niua'') is a volcanic island in the island nation of Tonga, Pacific Ocean. Its highest point is , and its area is . Its name means ''sacred island''. Older names for the island are Traitors Island or Keppel Island. ...
, they approached this island with some more hope to find refreshment, so they called it ''Goede Hoop'' island. They found black cliffs that were green on top, plenty of coconut trees, some houses along the seaside, and a whole village near a landing place. But their ship, the ''Eendracht'' (Unity), could not anchor, so they had to limit themselves with some trade with the ''Indians'' who approached their ship in their swift canoes. The trading went well, until the islanders tried to steal one of the ship’s small sounding boats, and the Dutch responded by firing on them. After this incident, the Dutch left the vicinity of
Niuatoputapu Niuatoputapu (''The Sacred Niua'') is a volcanic island in the island nation of Tonga, Pacific Ocean. Its highest point is , and its area is . Its name means ''sacred island''. Older names for the island are Traitors Island or Keppel Island. ...
and continued to sail west as they had planned. But they ended up veering northwards, and so happened upon Futuna and
Alofi Alofi is the capital of the island nation of Niue. With a population of 610 in 2022, Alofi is the second-smallest national capital by population (after Ngerulmud, capital of Palau). It consists of two villages: Alofi North and Alofi South. Th ...
. 1896 Niuafoʻou was visited by a Royal Navy surveying ship, in August 1895. Lieutenant Boyle Somerville published a description of the island the following year. He noted signs of recent volcanic activity, writing " he islandis thickly covered with vegetation throughout, with the exception of one place on the south-west of the island, where a lava stream, recently formed, has not yet received its coating of green". In April 1909 the island was struck by a severe
tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...
, which destroyed houses and killed seven people. By 1912 the difficulty of ships landing had seen the inhabitants implement a "tin can mail service", with mail sealed in a biscuit or kerosene tin thrown overboard from passing ships and collected by swimmers. The popularisation of this method to stamp collectors led to Niuafoʻou becoming known as "Tin-can islands" for many years. A
wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (''telecommunication'') between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided transm ...
station was constructed in 1930. That same year, scientists traveled to the island with a 65 foot long camera to observe the Solar eclipse of October 21, 1930. In January 2002, the island was devastated by Cyclone Waka, which destroyed hundreds of homes and killed one person.


Ecology

The island is home to the Tongan megapode.


See also

*
List of volcanoes in Tonga This is a list of active and extinct volcanoes in Tonga. References * See especiallFigure 1 * Global Volcanism ProgramGVP
* D. Stanley; South Pacific handbook * Government of Tonga, official 1962 land survey {{reflist Lists of volcanoe ...
* France–Tonga Maritime Delimitation Convention


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Niuafo'ou Polygenetic shield volcanoes Active volcanoes Calderas of Oceania Volcanic crater lakes Volcanoes of Tonga Islands of Tonga Niuas Volcanic eruptions in Oceania Volcanism of the Pacific Ocean