Zealandia Bank, also known as Farallon de Torres or Piedras de Torres in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, or Papaungan in Chamorro, consists of two rocky pinnacles about 1.5 kilometers apart, in the

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in the

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 ...

. One reaches a height of approximately at low tide; the other does not normally broach the surface. They are located north-northeast of Sarigan, in between Sarigan and Guguan, but because of their small size, they are not listed in most maps. Zealandia Bank is one of a number of Volcanic Units within the Mariana Arc of Fire National Wildlife Refuge of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument. Txu-pclmaps-oclc-22834566 j-14c

Geology

Zealandia Bank is the exposed portion of the peak of an eroded underwater volcano. In 2004, a survey by

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploratio ...

discovered active

fumarole A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or another rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volcani ...

s, including possible volcanic activity. The volcano has erupted most recently

rhyodacite Rhyodacite is a volcanic rock intermediate in composition between dacite and rhyolite. It is the extrusive equivalent of those plutonic rocks that are intermediate in composition between monzogranite and granodiorite. Rhyodacites form from rapid ...

but previously built up as an

andesitic Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...

volcano that was dormant long enough for a carbonate platform to grow on its summit. Given that a large mid- to lower-crustal

felsic In geology, felsic is a grammatical modifier, modifier describing igneous rocks that are relatively rich in elements that form feldspar and quartz.Marshak, Stephen, 2009, ''Essentials of Geology,'' W. W. Norton & Company, 3rd ed. It is contrasted ...

magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma (sometimes colloquially but incorrectly referred to as ''lava'') is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also ...

body exists beneath the south-central Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc extending about to the south of Zealandia Bank, it and the nearby volcanoes of West Zealandia and Northwest Zealandia, if not currently active, are most likely only dormant and so have been called the Zealandia Volcanic Complex. The Zealandia Bank is the current magmatic front and the other two volcanoes being about west are in a rear arc.

Name

Zealandia Bank was named in 1858 after the British barque ''Zealandia''.gaebler.info -- Zealandia Bank
/ref> The area is part of the United States Commonwealth of the

References

External links

Zealandia Bank. Pascal Horst Lehne and Christoph Gäbler: ''Über die Marianen.'' Lehne-Verlag, Wohldorf in Germany 1972.

Sharks at Zealandia Bank

{{Authority control Former German colonies Islands of the Northern Mariana Islands Stacks (geology) Volcanoes of the Northern Mariana Islands Stratovolcanoes of the United States Uninhabited islands of the Northern Mariana Islands