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Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands

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Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Introduction

The Marshall Islands consist of 29 atolls and 5 isolated reef islands in the northwest central Pacific Ocean. The archipelago contains the largest and perhaps oldest atolls in the world based on the findings of deep drilling surveys at Enewetak (formerly called Eniwetok) and Bikini (Figure 1) and the archipelago’s location near the oldest part of the Pacific Plate. Enewetak Atoll (11°30′N, 162°15′E) (Figure 2) is located in the northwest corner of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and is the second largest atoll in the Marshall Islands in terms of combined lagoon, reef, and land area (1,027 km2). Enewetak Atoll and neighboring Bikini Atoll collectively served as the major American proving ground for nuclear weapons testing after World War II that led to the most comprehensive scientific and engineering studies of deep ocean atolls in the world. Enewetak is part of the arid northern Marshall Islands where vegetation, groundwater, and rainfall (1,470 mm/year) are less...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hawaii and Pacific National Wildlife Refuges and Marine National Monuments, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Box 50167, 300 Ala Moana Blvd., 96744, Honolulu, HI, USA

    James E. Maragos

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  1. James E. Maragos
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. James Cook University, Townsville, Australia

    David Hopley

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Maragos, J.E. (2011). Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands. In: Hopley, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2639-2_76

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