Zealandia Bank
{{Short description|Natural feature in the Pacific Ocean}}
{{Infobox Islands
| name = Zealandia Bank
| image_name = Zealandia 3d hires.jpg
| image_caption = Zealandia Bank submarine volcano, looking toward the northeast
| image_size =
| map_image =
| map_caption =
| native_name =
| native_name_link =
| nickname =
| location = Pacific Ocean
| pushpin_map =Northern Mariana Islands#North Pacific
| coordinates = {{Coord|16|53|N|145|51|E|display=it}}
| archipelago = Northern Mariana Islands
| total_islands =
| major_islands =
| area_km2 =
| length_km =
| width_km =
| coastline_km =
| highest_mount =
| elevation_m = 1
| country = United States
| country_admin_divisions_title = Commonwealth
| country_admin_divisions = Northern Mariana Islands
| population = - uninhabited -
| population_as_of = 2010
| density_km2 =
| ethnic_groups =
| additional_info =
}}
Zealandia Bank, also known as Farallon de Torres or Piedras de Torres in Spanish, or Papaungan in Chamorro, consists of two rocky pinnacles about 1.5 kilometers apart, in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. One reaches a height of approximately {{convert|1|m|ft|sp=us}} at low tide; the other does not normally broach the surface. They are located {{convert|11|nmi|km|0}} north-northeast from Sarigan, in between Sarigan and Guguan, but because of their small size, they are not listed in most maps. Zealandia Bank is one of a number of Volcanic Units within the Mariana Arc of Fire National Wildlife Refuge of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument.{{Cite web|url=http://www.fws.gov/refuge/mariana_trench_marine_national_monument/|title=Mariana Trench MNM - Mariana Trench - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service}}
Geology
Zealandia Bank is the exposed portion of the peak of an eroded underwater volcano. In 2004, a survey by NOAA discovered active fumaroles, including possible volcanic activity.
The volcano has erupted most recently rhyodacite but previously built up as an andesitic volcano that was dormant long enough for a carbonate platform to grow on its summit.{{cite journal|title=The Zealandia Volcanic Complex: Further evidence of a lower crustal "hot zone" beneath the Mariana Intra-oceanic Arc, Western Pacific |first1=Robert J. |last1=Stern |first2= Yoshihiko |last2=Tamura |first3= Hiroshi |last3=Shukuno |first4= Takashi |last4=Miyazaki|year= 2019 |doi=10.1111/iar.12308|journal=Island Arc |volume=28 |issue=5|doi-access=free |bibcode=2019IsArc..28E2308S }} Given that a large mid- to lower-crustal felsic magma body exists beneath the south-central Izu–Bonin–Mariana Arc extending about {{convert|150|km|abbr=on}} to the south of Zealandia Bank, it and the nearby volcanoes of West Zealandia and Northwest Zealandia, if not currently active, are most likely only dormant and so have been called the Zealandia Volcanic Complex. The Zealandia Bank is the current magmatic front and the other two volcanoes being about {{convert|15|km|abbr=on}} west are in a rear arc.
Name
Zealandia Bank was named in 1858 after the British barque Zealandia.{{cite gvp|vn=284191|name=Zealandia Bank}}[http://gaebler.info/sonstiges/marianen.htm#Papaungan_oder_Zealandia_Bank gaebler.info -- Zealandia Bank] The area is part of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://gaebler.info/sonstiges/marianen.htm#zealandia Zealandia Bank. Pascal Horst Lehne and Christoph Gäbler: Über die Marianen. Lehne-Verlag, Wohldorf in Germany 1972.]
- [http://www.crm.gov.mp/maramp/artdtl.asp?artID=60&secID=3 Sharks at Zealandia Bank]
- [http://www.google.com/maps/@16.8816119,145.850723,14.5z?hl=en]
{{Northern Mariana Islands}}
{{Former German colonies}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Former German colonies
Category:Islands of the Northern Mariana Islands
Category:Volcanoes of the Northern Mariana Islands
Category:Stratovolcanoes of the United States
Category:Uninhabited islands of the Northern Mariana Islands