Satellite image of Kure Atoll

Kure Atoll or Ocean Island (Hawaiian: Kānemiloha‘i) lies some 55 miles beyond Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands at 178°20′W 28°25′N. The International Date Line lies approximately 100 miles to the west. Kure is the northern-most coral atoll in the world. It consists of a 6-mile wide nearly circular barrier reef surrounding a shallow lagoon and several sand islets. The only land of significant size is called Green Island and is habitat for hundreds of thousands of seabirds. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x1000, 543 KB) Summary Satellite image from NASAs Landsat 7 satellite http://www. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x1000, 543 KB) Summary Satellite image from NASAs Landsat 7 satellite http://www. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Orthographic projection centred over Midway Midway Atoll (also known as Midway Island or Midway Islands, Hawaiian: Pihemanu) is a 6. ... Map of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of islands that stretches 2,400 km in a northwesterly direction from the southern tip of the Island of Hawai‘i. ... An atoll is a type of low, coral island found in tropical oceans and consisting of a coral-algal reef surrounding a central depression. ... A reef surrounding an islet. ... Mōkōlea Rock in Kailua Bay, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, 2. ...

Geological History

The geological history of Kure follows generally the description provided in the article on Midway, but Kure lies close to what is called the Darwin Point, the latitude at which reef growth just equals reef destruction by various physical forces. As Kure continues to be slowly carried along to the northwest by the motion of the Pacific Plate, it will move into waters too cool for coral and coralline algae growth to keep up with isostatic subsidence of the mountain. Barring unforseen evolution, it will then begin to join the other volcanic and reef-topped remnants of the Hawaiian-Emperor Chain to the northwest, that are now all seamounts. Orthographic projection centred over Midway Midway Atoll (also known as Midway Island or Midway Islands, Hawaiian: Pihemanu) is a 6. ... Fanning Atoll (Tabuaeran) is a typical, small to moderate-sized atoll located in the central Pacific Ocean. ... Bridge across the Álfagjá rift valley in southwest Iceland, the boundary of the Eurasian and North American continental tectonic plates. ... Subclasses Alcyonaria Zoantharia See text for orders. ... A seaweed (Laurencia) up close: the branches are multicellular and only about 1 mm thick. ... Isostasy is a term used in Geology to refer to the state of gravitational equilibrium between the Earths lithosphere and asthenosphere such that the tectonic plates float at an elevation which depends on their thickness and density. ... The Emperor Seamounts are a chain of seamounts (submerged volcanic mountains) extending from the northwestern Hawaiian Islands (see Kure and Midway atolls) in a northwesterly direction until approximately 170º east longitude where they trend abruptly northward towards the tip of the Aleutian Islands and the Kamchatka Peninsula. ... A seamount is a mountain rising from the seafloor that does not reach to the surface of the ocean. ...

Human Exploration and Use

Before the mid-1800s, Kure Atoll was visited by several ships and given new names each time. Many crews were stranded on Kure Atoll after being shipwrecked on the surrounding reefs and had to survive on the local seals, turtles, and birds. The shipwrecks remain on the reef today, including the USS Saginaw (1859). Kure is located in the middle of a major current which constantly washes up debris such as fishing nets and large numbers of cigarette lighters on the island. These pose threats to the local animals, especially birds, whose skeletons are frequently found with plastic in the stomach cavity. [1] The first USS Saginaw was a sidewheel steamer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. ...

Formerly a U.S. Coast Guard LORAN station was located on Green Island. A short coral runway still remains on the island. Coast Guard shield The United States Coast Guard is the coast guard of the United States. ... LORAN (LOng RAnge Navigation) is a terrestrial navigation system using low frequency radio transmitters that use the time interval between radio signals received from three or more stations to determine the position of a ship or aircraft. ...

Amateur Radio

Because of its particularly remote location Kure Island has been the scene of several Amateur Radio DX expeditions, or DX-peditions. Because the radio propagation path from Kure runs right over the North Polar region, opportunities for distant communication with Kure are particularly popular among European amateurs. The most recent two DXpeditions to Kure were: Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is a hobby enjoyed by about 3 million people[1] throughout the world. ... It has been suggested that DX station be merged into this article or section. ... A DX-pedition normally is an expedition to an exotic place. ...

• 1997 – Event callsign: K7K – Expedition website – This was a joint scientific/radio operation including four fish and wildlife scientists and the eight members of the Midway-Kure DX Foundation's 1996 Midway team. The team included four scientists from the U. S. Department of Fish and Wildlife.
• 2005 – Event callsign: K7C – Expedition website – The team consisted of 12 Amateur Radio operators from the United States, Canada and Germany.

External links

• Quick Facts on the Kure Atoll from the PBS Ocean Adventures site
• Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve
• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 28.42126988° -178.33204553°
  • Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
  • Satellite image from Google Maps or Windows Live Local
• List of DXpeditions to Kure Island