Matureivavao
Coordinates: 21°29′S 136°25′W / 21.483°S 136.417°W
 NASA satellite image of Matureivavao | |
  | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 21°29′S 136°25′W / 21.483°S 136.417°W |
| Archipelago | Tuamotu |
| Area |
2.5 km2 (0.97 sq mi) (lagoon) 18 km² (above water) |
| Length | 6.6 km (4.1 mi) |
| Width | 4.6 km (2.86 mi) |
| Country | |
| Overseas collectivity |
 French Polynesia |
| Administrative subdivision | Tuamotus |
| Commune | Gambier Islands |
| Demographics | |
| Population | Uninhabited |
Matureivavao, or Mature-vavao is an uninhabited atoll in the Acteon Group in the southeastern part of the Tuamotu Islands. It is the largest atoll within the Acteon Group, and like others in this group, is administratively part of the commune of the Gambier Islands.
Geography
Matureivavao is about 6.6 km long in a NNW-SSE direction and 4.6 km wide. It has a land area of 2.5 km2 and a total area of 18 km2. It lies 16 km southeast of Tenarunga and 1,390 km from Tahiti. The atoll is high enough to be visible from a considerable distance. It appears as a sandy beach, backed by a line of dark green. In bad weather, the seas sometimes sweep over the reef. There is no entrance to the lagoon.
In some maps this atoll also appears as "Melbourne".
History
The first recorded sighting of this atoll was made during the Spanish expedition of the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernández de Quirós on 5 February 1606 under the name Las Cuatro Coronadas (the "four crowned" (by coconut palms)),[1][2] however these observations were not fully documented. As such, the first unambiguous approach to the island was made in 1833 by navigator Thomas Ebrill on his merchant vessel Amphitrite and again in 1837 by Lord Edward Russell, commander of the HMS Actaeon (1831), the name given to the group.[3] It was previously owned by a man named Captain Nicholas but was redeemed in 1934.[4]
Flora and Fauna
After the hurricane in 1983, Matureivavao was entirely replanted with thousands of coconut trees.[5] The atoll is home to a variety of Amaranthaceae including the genus Achyranthes aspera var. velutina.[6] It is also one of the few atolls in which rats were never introduced.
See also
References
- ↑ Brand, Donald D. The Pacific Basin: A History of its Geographical Explorations The American Geographical Society, New York, 1967, p.136.
- ↑ Kelly, Celsus, O.F.M. La Austrialia del Espiritu Santo. The Journal of Fray Martín de Munilla O.F.M. and other documents relating to the Voyage of Pedro Fernández de Quirós to the South Sea (1605-1606) and the Franciscan Missionary Plan (1617-1627) Cambridge, 1966, p.39,62.
- ↑ Pacific Island: Eastern-Pacific - Geographical handbook series, James Wightman Davidson and Naval Intelligence Division, editions Naval Intelligence Division, 1945, p.224.
- ↑ Archaeology of Mangareva and neighboring atolls by Kenneth Pike Emory, editions Kraus, 1971, p.58-60.
- ↑ Dahl, prepared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Commission on National Parks and Protected Areas ; in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme ; based on the work of Arthur Lyon (1986). Review of the protected areas system in Oceania (Sept. 1986. ed.). Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. ISBN 9782880325091.
- ↑ Florence, Jacques (2004). Flore de la Polynésie française (Reimpr. ed.). Paris: IRD Ed. [u.a.] ISBN 9782709915434.
- Sailing Directions, Pub 126, "Pacific Islands" NIMA 2002; page-12
- Atoll names
External links
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