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30-457: The island is a national park. The island is oval, measuring approximately 80 square kilometers. Its sides rise steeply to the rim of the caldera, which is partially filled by a volcanic crater lake with a depth of 500 m (1,600 ft). The caldera was formed by a major eruption around 1,000 years BP, which left deposits up to 0.5 metres (1 ft 8 in) thick on islands over 40 kilometres (25 mi) away. Tofua's pre-caldera activity

60-684: A lifeboat containing 23 survivors from the Liberty ship SS Phoebe A. Hearst , which sank after being torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I19 on 30 April 1943, landed. The crew survived on shellfish and coconuts until spotted by a Lockheed Hudson patrol aircraft of the Royal New Zealand Air Force and were picked up the following day by the US Navy YMS-1 -class minesweeper YMS-89 and taken to Tongatapu . Tofua

90-647: A member of the 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition) in the June 1985 issue of the Pacific Islands Monthly . Danielsson identified Bligh's cave as lying on the sheltered northwest coast, where Bligh identified it; Marden's cave lies on the exposed southeast coast. Additionally, Danielsson thought it highly unlikely that the Tofuans would have allotted any grave site to Norton, or that the grave, if allotted, would have been preserved for two centuries. In May 1943,

120-583: A permanent crater lake about 100 m (330 ft) in diameter at an elevation of 6,390 m (20,965 ft) on its eastern side. This is most likely the highest lake of any kind in the world. Due to their unstable environments, some crater lakes exist only intermittently. Caldera lakes in contrast can be quite large and long-lasting. For instance, Lake Toba ( Indonesia ) formed after its eruption around 75,000 years ago. At around 100 kilometres (62 mi) by 30 kilometres (19 mi) in extent and 505 metres (1,657 ft) deep at its deepest point, Lake Toba

150-694: A year or more. In 1774 Captain Cook sailed between Tofua and Kao, but did not land. He observed smoke rising from the island, and that "[the] brow of the Hill had been consumed by fire". The Mutiny on the Bounty took place on 28 April 1789, about 30 nautical miles (56 km; 35 mi) from Tofua. After being cast off the ship, Captain William Bligh navigated the overcrowded 23-foot (7.0 m) open launch on an epic 41-day voyage first to Tofua and then to

180-492: Is a lake in a crater that was formed by explosive activity or a collapse during a volcanic eruption . Lakes in calderas fill large craters formed by the collapse of a volcano during an eruption. Lakes in maars fill medium-sized craters where an eruption deposited debris around a vent. Crater lakes form as the created depression, within the crater rim , is filled by water. The water may come from precipitation , groundwater circulation (often hydrothermal fluids in

210-557: Is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion that includes the Tonga archipelago and Niue . The ecoregion includes the Tonga archipelago, a group of 170 islands that extends 800 km north to south between 15º to 23ºS latitude and 173º to 177º W longitude, and comprise the nation of Tonga. It also includes Niue, which lies 400 km east of Tonga at 19º S latitude and 169º W longitude. The Tonga archipelago lies at

240-753: Is an endemic species found the Vava'u Group . The Niuafo'ou megapode ( Megapodius pritchardii ) is endemic to Niuafo'ou island. Other native birds include the red shining parrot ( Prosopeia tabuensis ) and blue-crowned lorikeet ( Vini australis ). The islands are home to numerous seabirds, including brown noddy ( Anous stolidus ), Phoenix petrel ( Pterodroma alba ), and bristle-thighed curlew ( Numenius tahitiensis ). Seabird breeding colonies are mostly limited to offshore islets free of rats, which prey on eggs and chicks. Niue has 12 native species of land birds and six species of seabirds, including two endemic subspecies. There are 20 known species of reptiles in

270-912: Is generally higher between December and April. Leeward lowlands can experience seasonal droughts between May and November. The natural vegetation is moist broadleaf forest. Tropical lowland rain forests predominate below 500 meters elevation. Evergreen trees form a continuous canopy up to 30 meters in height. Common canopy trees include Diospyros spp., Rhus taitensis , Alphitonia zizyphoides , Calophyllum neo-ebudicum , Cryptocarya turbinata , Elattostachys apetala , Litsea mellifera , Maniltoa grandiflora , Myristica hypargyraea , Zanthoxylum pinnatum , Garcinia myrtifolia , Neonauclea forsteri , Didymocheton tongensis (on 'Eua), Podocarpus pallidus , Inocarpus fagifer , Erythrina fusca , Pisonia grandis , Pittosporum arborescens , Garuga floribunda , Ficus obliqua , Pleiogynium timoriense , and Cynometra grandiflora . The understorey includes dense clumps of

300-416: Is no longer inhabited, but it is used for agriculture, specifically for the cultivation of Kava . The few people who occasionally stay on the island for this purpose use the huts of the abandoned village of Manaka on the east coast of the island as accommodation. Other settlements on the island were Hotaʻane in the west and Hokula in the north. In the 1996 census, five people were still counted, but since 2006,

330-458: Is recorded by a sequence of pyroclastic deposits and lavas constituting the older cone, followed on the northern part of the island by froth lavas or welded and unwelded ignimbrite . Following the caldera collapse , lavas were erupted from the northern part of the island and the caldera-rim fissure zone, scoria and lavas from the caldera-wall fissure zones, pyroclastics and lavas from intracaldera cones, and recent pyroclastic fall deposits on

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360-575: Is the largest crater lake in the world. While many crater lakes are picturesque, they can also be deadly. Gas discharges from Lake Nyos in Cameroon suffocated 1,800 people in 1986, and crater lakes such as Mount Ruapehu 's (New Zealand) often contribute to destructive lahars . Certain bodies of water, although their formation is directly related to volcanic activity, are not usually referred to as crater lakes, including: Tongan tropical moist forests The Tongan tropical moist forests

390-477: The Dutch East Indies port of Kupang on Timor equipped with a quadrant , a pocket watch , sextant and a compass. The mutineers refused them charts so Bligh had to navigate to Timor from memory. He recorded the distance as 3,618 nautical miles (6,701 km; 4,164 mi). He passed through the difficult Torres Strait along the way and reached Kupang on June 14. The only casualty on this voyage

420-567: The Tonga, and approximately 3% are endemic . Plants endemic to Tonga include Alphitonia franguloides var. obtusa , Arytera bifoliata , Grewia amicorum , Grewia populoides , Guioa lentiscifolia , Meiogyne amicorum , Oldenlandia debilis , Pandanus amicalis , Pandanus tongatapuensis , Pandanus vavauensis , Phyllanthus amicorum , Pittosporum yunckeri , Psychotria euaensis , Scaevola porrecta , and Xylosma smithiana . Several species are endemic to one or two islands: Peperomia pallida var. niueana , Myoporum nieuanum , and

450-654: The boundary of the Pacific and the Australian tectonic plates , and the islands were created by the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Australian Plate. The islands on the eastern side of the chain are mostly made up of uplifted coraline rocks lying atop blocks of oceanic or continental crust. Some of the larger eastern islands are Foa , Lifuka , Vavaʻu , 'Eua , and Tongatapu . Several of

480-500: The case of volcanic craters) or melted ice . Its level rises until an equilibrium is reached between the rates of incoming and outgoing water. Sources of water loss singly or together may include evaporation , subsurface seepage, and, in places, surface leakage or overflow when the lake level reaches the lowest point on its rim. At such a saddle location, the upper portion of the lake is contained only by its adjacent natural volcanic dam ; continued leakage through or surface outflow across

510-659: The coast in areas with salt spray. Immediately inland are coastal forests with Pisonia grandis and Excoecaria agallocha as the predominant trees. Mangrove scrub and mangrove forest are found in saltwater wetlands on coral atolls and around the shores of the larger islands' coastal lagoons. Mangrove scrub is found on estuaries and reef flats and on the edges of mangrove forests. The small- to medium-sized trees Rhizophora mangle , Rhizophora stylosa , and Lumnitzera littorea are dominant. Where conditions are favorable mangrove forests dominated by Bruguiera gymnorhiza with Xylocarpus moluccensis and X. granatum replace

540-545: The dam can erode its included material, thus lowering lake level until a new equilibrium of water flow, erosion, and rock resistance is established. If the volcanic dam portion erodes rapidly or fails catastrophically, the occurrence produces a breakout or outburst flood. With changes in environmental conditions over time, the occurrence of such floods is common to all natural dam types. These lakes may become soda lakes , many of which are associated with active tectonic and volcanic zones. A well-known crater lake, which bears

570-452: The ecoregion. They include the Lau banded iguana ( Brachylophus fasciatus ), the boa Candoia bibroni , nine species of gecko , and nine species of skink . The skink Tachygia microlepsis is now considered extinct. Fossil remains of an giant land iguana have been found, which became extinct after the first humans arrived. A 2017 assessment found that 117 km , or 21%, of the ecoregion

600-506: The fern Dicranopteris linearis and the shrubs Piper puberulum and Psychotria insularum . On coastal dunes and relatively recent lava and ash deposits where soils are thinner and drier, forests of Casuarina equisetifolia predominate, with low trees and shrubs including Pandanus tectorius , Syzygium dealbatum , Hibiscus tiliaceus , and Scaevola taccada . Littoral forests of Hernandia nymphaeifolia , Barringtonia asiatica , and Casuarina equisetifolia grow closest to

630-530: The high mountain by its very roots and its place was taken by a large lake. This enraged the Tongan gods very much and one of them, Tafakula, essayed to stop the thieves. He stood on the island of Luahako and bent over so as to show his anus. It shone so brilliantly that the Samoan deities were struck with fear, thinking that the sun was rising and that their dastardly works was about to be revealed. Hence, they dropped

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660-544: The island has been considered uninhabited. In 2008–2009, the Swiss adventurer Xavier Rosset spent 10 months alone on the island. Having a camera, he turned his survivalist endeavor into a documentary called 300 Days Alone . E. W. Gifford, recording Tongan myths and tales in the 1920s, documented this explanation for Tofua's caldera and the creation of Kao Island to the north: Three deities from Samoa, Tuvuvata, Sisi, and Faingaa, conspired to steal Tofua. So they came and tore up

690-437: The islands on the western side of the chain are of stratovolcanos , including 'Ata , Tofua , Kao , Late , and Fonualei in the south, and Niuafo'ou , Niuatoputapu , and Tafahi in the north. The highest peak in the islands is 1,030 metres on Kao. Many islands have fringing coral reefs, and others have become coral atolls as the central islands eroded away or subsided. Niue is an uplifted coral atoll, with cliffs along

720-680: The mangrove scrub. Montane forests are found above 500 metres elevation on the island of Tafahi . The climate is cooler and more humid than that of the lowland forests. Characteristic montane forest tree species include Syzygium spp., Fagraea berteroana , Bischofia javanica , Hernandia moerenhoutiana , Astronidium spp., and Reynoldsia spp. Other montane plant communities are upland volcanic scrub on Kao 's young volcanic slopes, and fernlands dominated by Dicranopteris linearis with Lycopodium cernuum and Miscanthus floridulus in highland areas of 'Eua disturbed by human-caused fires. There are 419 native species of vascular plants in

750-598: The mountain and fled to Samoa. The mountain became the island of Kao. The island is the largest area of undisturbed Tongan tropical moist forests in Tonga, and was designated a national park in 2001. It has been designated an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International . Birds include the Many-colored fruit dove , Crimson-crowned fruit dove , Blue-crowned lorikeet , Polynesian wattled honeyeater , Polynesian triller , Fiji shrikebill , and Polynesian starling . Volcanic crater lake A volcanic crater lake

780-497: The orchid Dendrobium niueense are endemic to Niue. There are no native land mammals in the ecoregion. Native bats include the Pacific flying fox ( Pteropus tonganus ) and Pacific sheath-tailed bat ( Emballonura semicaudata ). The black rat ( Rattus rattus ) and brown rat ( R. norvegicus ) were introduced to the islands by humans, and have decimated the island's birds. Tonga has native 20 species of land and freshwater birds. The Tongan whistler ( Pachycephala jacquinoti )

810-399: The outer cone. Eruptive products are mainly basaltic andesites and andesites, plus occasional dacite flows within the older cone. A postcaldera cone with fumarolic activity (Lofia) is in the northern part of the caldera Most historical eruptions have been small explosions from Lofia cone along the northern caldera rim. The eruptions of 1958–59 caused most of the islanders to evacuate for

840-613: The same name as the geological feature, is Crater Lake in Oregon . It is located in the caldera of Mount Mazama . It is the deepest lake in the United States with a depth of 594 m (1,949 ft). Crater Lake is fed solely by falling rain and snow, with no inflow or outflow at the surface, and hence is one of the clearest lakes in the world. The highest volcano in the world, 6,893-m (22,615-ft) Ojos del Salado in Chile , has

870-555: The shoreline and without a fringing coral reef. It covers an area of 259 km . The islands have been inhabited for about 3000 years. The ecoregion has a humid tropical climate. Mean daily temperatures generally range from 24º to 30 °C in February, the warmest month, to 20º to 26 °C in August, the coolest month. Average annual rainfall is 2000 mm or more, and higher on windward slopes and at higher elevations. Rainfall

900-593: Was a crewman named John Norton who was stoned to death by the natives of Tofua, the first island they tried to land on. At Tofua (Bligh spelled it Tofoa ), Bligh and eighteen loyalists sought refuge in a cave to augment their meager provisions. In the March 1968 issue of the National Geographic Magazine , Luis Marden claimed to have found this cave and the grave of John Norton. Both findings were later disproved by Bengt Danielsson (who had been

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