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
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 ...
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.
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 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 ...
.
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