(05/Sept./86) Kwajalein Atoll, like the other atolls in the Marshall Islands, has a fragile environment. The reef that is the principle feature of every atoll is nothing but the skeletons of millions of dead animals clinging to the sides of ancient volcanoes. This photo shows the bare coral reef at low tide, the deep water of the Pacific Ocean to the right, the lagoon on the left and Gagan Island in the center.
Long ago these volcanoes built up from the floor of the ocean until they emerged and formed islands like those found in Hawaii, including the rich vegetation. Coral began to grow around the edge of these islands.
Later, when the islands at Kwajalein began to sink back into the Pacific, other coral continued to grow on top of the coral that was sinking with the mountains. This slow process continued with the mountains eventually disappearing into the ocean.
While this was happening, reefs began to form on the surface and grow. As the peaks inside the reefs became submerged, lagoons were formed, deepening over time. Broken coral collecting on the reefs formed the low islands, one of which I’m presently living on.
The reef at Kwajalein extends outward from its islands about three hundred to four hundred yards. You can tell the limits of the reef from the air by the light blue color of the ocean. The water here is generally two or three feet deep but once you reach the edge, the next step is rather steep, up to 18,000 feet in some places. And the water is deep blue.
At Kwajalein Island we’ve built huge structures, storage tanks, a runway and brought in a long list of items to pile on top of this delicate reef, the one that’s attached to the mountain top and assaulted by the Pacific day after day. And this reef is all that stands between the residents of Kwaj and catastrophe. A sobering thought, at least for me.
Coral reefs, though, are the Marshall Islands. The country consists of two parallel chains of island and islet covered reefs spread out over 500,000 square miles of the Central Pacific. But the total land area for the 1,152 islands is less than 70 square miles.
The Ralik (Sunrise) chain contains 15 atolls and islands while the Ratak (Sunset) chain has 16. Kwajalein Atoll is in the Ratak chain (westernmost) and is the largest atoll in the Marshalls. It also has the biggest lagoon in the world with an area of close to 1,000 square miles.
Filed under: Almost Paradise Volume 1
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