4°31′30″S 159°24′00″E / 4.52500°S 159.40000°E / -4.52500; 159.40000
31-545: The Nukumanu Islands , formerly the Tasman Islands , is an atoll of Papua New Guinea , located in the south-western Pacific Ocean , 4 degrees south of the Equator . Comprising a ring of more than twenty islets on a reef surrounding a large lagoon, Nukumanu's sandy islands are located on a strip of coral rising no more than 1 metre (3.3 ft) above sea level. The main inhabited islands of Nukumanu are located on
62-508: A reef knoll refers to the elevated remains of an ancient atoll within a limestone region, appearing as a hill. The second largest atoll by dry land area is Aldabra , with 155 km (60 sq mi). Huvadhu Atoll , situated in the southern region of the Maldives, holds the distinction of being the largest atoll based on the sheer number of islands it comprises, with a total of 255 individual islands. In 1842, Charles Darwin explained
93-664: A lagoon in which there are no promontories other than reefs and islets composed of reef detritus " or "in an exclusively morphological sense, [as] a ring-shaped ribbon reef enclosing a lagoon". There are approximately 440 atolls in the world. Most of the world's atolls are in the Pacific Ocean (with concentrations in the Caroline Islands , the Coral Sea Islands , the Marshall Islands ,
124-525: A volcanic island in the tropical sea will grow upward as the island subsides (sinks), becoming an "almost atoll", or barrier reef island, as typified by an island such as Aitutaki in the Cook Islands, and Bora Bora and others in the Society Islands. The fringing reef becomes a barrier reef for the reason that the outer part of the reef maintains itself near sea level through biotic growth, while
155-487: Is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Maldives . The word's first recorded English use was in 1625 as atollon . Charles Darwin coined the term in his monograph, The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs . He recognized the word's indigenous origin and defined it as a "circular group of coral islets", synonymously with "lagoon-island". More modern definitions of atoll describe them as "annular reefs enclosing
186-573: Is the largest raised coral atoll of the world, followed by Rennell Island (660 km , 250 sq mi). More sources, however, list Kiritimati as the largest atoll in the world in terms of land area. It is also a raised coral atoll (321 km , 124 sq mi land area; according to other sources even 575 km , 222 sq mi), 160 km (62 sq mi) main lagoon, 168 km (65 sq mi) other lagoons (according to other sources 319 km , 123 sq mi total lagoon size). The geological formation known as
217-599: The Colombian department of San Andres and Providencia in the Caribbean. Reef-building corals will thrive only in warm tropical and subtropical waters of oceans and seas, and therefore atolls are found only in the tropics and subtropics. The northernmost atoll in the world is Kure Atoll at 28°25′ N, along with other atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands . The southernmost atolls in
248-565: The German colonial empire . It was captured by Australia in 1914 and formally transferred to Australian administration as a League of Nations mandate in 1920 by the Treaty of Versailles , after Germany's defeat in World War I . Nukumanu's most recent claim to fame is that it was the last place on the path of Amelia Earhart before she and her co-pilot Fred Noonan disappeared forever into
279-606: The Royal Society of London carried out drilling on Funafuti atoll in Tuvalu for the purpose of investigating the formation of coral reefs . They wanted to determine whether traces of shallow water organisms could be found at depth in the coral of Pacific atolls. This investigation followed the work on the structure and distribution of coral reefs conducted by Charles Darwin in the Pacific. The first expedition in 1896
310-488: The Solomon Islands runs between these neighboring atolls, which form a small geographic group together with the wholly submerged Roncador Reef at the southern end. In Polynesian history, the main cultural and commercial exchanges took place with the inhabitants of neighboring Ontong Java Atoll, with whom Nukumanu people share many cultural affinities. Towards the end of the 19th century Nukumanu became part of
341-871: The Tuamotu Islands , Kiribati , Tokelau , and Tuvalu ) and the Indian Ocean (the Chagos Archipelago , Lakshadweep , the atolls of the Maldives , and the Outer Islands of Seychelles ). In addition, Indonesia also has several atolls spread across the archipelago, such as in the Thousand Islands , Taka Bonerate Islands , and atolls in the Raja Ampat Islands . The Atlantic Ocean has no large groups of atolls, other than eight atolls east of Nicaragua that belong to
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#1732790531314372-602: The "northernmost atoll" at a latitude of 32°18′ N. At this latitude, coral reefs would not develop without the warming waters of the Gulf Stream . However, Bermuda is termed a pseudo-atoll because its general form, while resembling that of an atoll, has a very different origin of formation. In most cases, the land area of an atoll is very small in comparison to the total area. Atoll islands are low lying, with their elevations less than 5 metres (16 ft). Measured by total area, Lifou (1,146 km , 442 sq mi)
403-655: The Melanesian Archipelago of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands respectively. The first serious research on Nukumanu's inhabitants was conducted by German ethnographers Ernst Sarfert and Hans Damm , during a German scientific expedition of the Southern Seas that took place in 1908–1910. This expedition visited both Nukumanu and neighboring Ontong Java Atoll, where they also carried out their research. Their work, "Luangiua und Nukumanu"
434-520: The antecedent karst model as they found that the morphology of modern atolls are independent of any influence of an underlying submerged and buried island and are not rooted to an initial fringing reef/barrier reef attached to a slowly subsiding volcanic edifice. In fact, the Neogene reefs underlying the studied modern atolls overlie and completely bury the subsided island are all non-atoll, flat-topped reefs. In fact, they found that atolls did not form doing
465-471: 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. 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,
496-402: The atoll to persist, the coral reef must be maintained at the sea surface, with coral growth matching any relative change in sea level (sinking of the island or rising oceans). An alternative model for the origin of atolls is called the antecedent karst model. In the antecedent karst model, the first step in the formation of an atoll is the development of a flat top, mound-like coral reef during
527-417: The creation of coral atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean based upon observations made during a five-year voyage aboard HMS Beagle from 1831 to 1836. Darwin's explanation suggests that several tropical island types: from high volcanic island, through barrier reef island, to atoll, represented a sequence of gradual subsidence of what started as an oceanic volcano. He reasoned that a fringing coral reef surrounding
558-436: The direct result of the interaction between subsidence and preferential karst dissolution that occurred in the interior of flat topped coral reefs during exposure during glacial lowstands of sea level. The elevated rims along an island created by this preferential karst dissolution become the sites of coral growth and islands of atolls when flooded during interglacial highstands. The research of A. W. Droxler and others supports
589-561: The dolomitization of calcite and aragonite within them. They are the evaporative, seepage-reflux, mixing-zone, burial, and seawater models. Although the origin of replacement dolomites remains problematic and controversial, it is generally accepted that seawater was the source of magnesium for dolomitization and the fluid in which calcite was dolomitized to form the dolomites found within atolls. Various processes have been invoked to drive large amounts of seawater through an atoll in order for dolomitization to occur. In 1896, 1897 and 1898,
620-575: The eastern end of the atoll. Administratively Nukumanu is part of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea , but it lies quite far away from the closest territory of Papua New Guinea proper, which is the coast of New Ireland island at 682 km (424 mi) to the west. The nearest land is Ontong Java Atoll , located only 38 km (24 mi) to the south of Nukumanu. The border between Papua New Guinea and
651-472: The inner part of the reef falls behind, becoming a lagoon because conditions are less favorable for the coral and calcareous algae responsible for most reef growth. In time, subsidence carries the old volcano below the ocean surface and the barrier reef remains. At this point, the island has become an atoll. As formulated by J. E. Hoffmeister, F. S. McNeil, E. G. Prudy, and others, the antecedent karst model argues that atolls are Pleistocene features that are
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#1732790531314682-558: The lagoon. This is exported mainly to Asia, and along with trochus shells, used to make mother-of-pearl, they comprise the backbone of the Nukumanu economy. This atoll has a Polynesian population whose ancestors migrated westwards out of Polynesia. Their language is classified in the Samoic–Outlier branch of Polynesian. The Nukumanu Islands, together with neighboring Ontong Java retain a Polynesian character despite their location in
713-528: The rate of dissolution increases inward to its maximum at the center of the island. As a result, a saucer shaped island with a raised rim forms. When relative sea level submerges the island again, the rim provides a rocky core on which coral grow again to form the islands of an atoll and the flooded bottom of the saucer forms the lagoon within them. The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu ( އަތޮޅު , pronounced [ˈat̪oɭu] ). Dhivehi
744-478: The subsidence of an island until MIS-11, Mid-Brunhes, long after the many the former islands had been completely submerged and buried by flat topped reefs during the Neogene. Atolls are the product of the growth of tropical marine organisms, and so these islands are found only in warm tropical waters. Volcanic islands located beyond the warm water temperature requirements of hermatypic (reef-building) organisms become seamounts as they subside, and are eroded away at
775-415: The subsidence of an oceanic island of either volcanic or nonvolcanic origin below sea level. Then, when relative sea level drops below the level of the flat surface of coral reef, it is exposed to the atmosphere as a flat topped island which is dissolved by rainfall to form limestone karst . Because of hydrologic properties of this karst, the rate of dissolution of the exposed coral is lowest along its rim and
806-696: The surface. An island that is located where the ocean water temperatures are just sufficiently warm for upward reef growth to keep pace with the rate of subsidence is said to be at the Darwin Point . Islands in colder, more polar regions evolve toward seamounts or guyots ; warmer, more equatorial islands evolve toward atolls, for example Kure Atoll . However, ancient atolls during the Mesozoic appear to exhibit different growth and evolution patterns. Coral atolls are important as sites where dolomitization of calcite occurs. Several models have been proposed for
837-531: The vast Pacific Ocean . Their last known position report was near the Nukumanu Islands, about 800 miles (1,300 km) into the flight. The land resources of the Nukumanu people are quite few and they grow a kind of taro and bananas . Coconuts are an integral part of the islanders' diet with the soft inside being a staple food and coconut flesh being consumed with raw fish and clams. They are also competent fishermen, who dive for bêche-de-mer in
868-430: 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 barrier reef that is detached from the island. Eventually, reef and the small coral islets on top of it are all that is left of the original island, and a lagoon has taken the place of the former volcano. The lagoon is not the former volcanic crater. For
899-688: The world are Elizabeth Reef at 29°57′ S, and nearby Middleton Reef at 29°27′ S, in the Tasman Sea , both of which are part of the Coral Sea Islands Territory. The next southerly atoll is Ducie Island in the Pitcairn Islands Group, at 24°41′ S. The atoll closest to the Equator is Aranuka of Kiribati. Its southern tip is just 13 km (8 mi) north of the Equator. Bermuda is sometimes claimed as
930-564: Was led by Professor William Johnson Sollas of the University of Oxford . Geologists included Walter George Woolnough and Edgeworth David of the University of Sydney . Professor Edgeworth David led the expedition in 1897. The third expedition in 1898 was led by Alfred Edmund Finckh. Pacific Ocean Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include
961-402: Was published in 1931. Atoll An atoll ( / ˈ æ t . ɒ l , - ɔː l , - oʊ l , ə ˈ t ɒ l , - ˈ t ɔː l , - ˈ t oʊ l / ) 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