Palmyra Atoll
- ISS013-E-6358
- 11 April 2006
- 20:25 UTC
Palmyra Atoll (the northernmost permanent land of the Line Islands) is located northwest from Teraina, near the geographical centre of the Pacific Ocean some 643 km north of the equator. Structurally, Palmyra is a ring of interconnected islands and islets that enclose a central lagoon. The islets and lagoon, in turn, sit at the centre of a large shallow coral platform that exposes in patches in the east. To the east and west the platform extends in to deeper waters for several kilometers before dropping steeply to the ocean floor. There are 39 small islets with a total land area of 11.9 km². Originally Palmyra had around 50 islets, but many of these were linked together by causeways during Second World War by the US Navy when the atoll was used as the Palmyra Island Naval Air Station.
The atoll supports dense tall stands of Pisonia grandis atoll forest — one of the largest remaining undisturbed stands to be found in the Pacific. These forests, coupled with the convergence of wind and ocean currents in this region, play a major role in supporting dense seabird populations. Palmyra is home to worlds second largest colony of Red-footed Boobies (Sula sula). Other common species include around 750,000 Sooty Terns (Sterna fuscata) and large numbers of Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra), Great Frigate Bird and Red Tailed Tropic Bird (Phaethon rubicauda). The atoll has extensive areas of tidal mud flats and sand flats that provide habitat or feeding grounds for numerous species of migratory seabirds and shorebirds.
The islands have been owned by the privately funded Nature Conservancy since late 2000, with the US Fish & Wildlife Service setting up the Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in 2001 to protect over 2,000 km² of tidal and shallow water habitat that includes more than 65 km² of coral reefs.
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center
