Tuamotu Archipelago Map

Site plans - Tuamotu Archipelago (Tuamotus), Tuamotu-Gambier (Tuamotu and Gambier Islands), French Polynesia, France

Accuracy of the map position: Co-ordinates for many places are general local co-ordinates (not exact) and should not be used when localizing places (e.g. with a GPS). Chart scales: Map rulers shown below may be the rulers of the initial map information (e.g. 1:50000 Landranger Maps) and NOT the ruler as displayed on your monitor.

Some of the map scaling shown below may not be available for each site, in some cases there may be a link to a different map scaling - for some locations only one is available. Most websites can have the same information, but you can select which one you like.

Touamotu Archipelago, Mataiva Atoll, South Pacific

The page contains archival contents and is no longer up-dated. Tuamotu Archipelago is part of Polynesia and is the biggest volcanic ash tree group in the whole of France. The photo shows the Mataiva Atlas, the most westerly Atlas of the Tuamotu-Chains. A toll is an annular islet that surrounds a main Laguna.

The pronounced cliffs are usually associated with marine islets, which are made up of volcanos; around the partly immersed cones of the volcanos corals form. In the course of geological times, the main vulcano disappears, followed by sedimentation and sedimentation under the ocean floor, so that the surrounding ring of corals (or capped) remains.

In turn, the corals above the ocean floor are subject to degradation, settling and bottom forming, resulting in the creation of flora and in many cases of people. This atoll is characterised by its centre Laguna with a net of burrs (white, centre) and small pools of Erosted Eros.

In Tuamotuan, Mataiva means "nine eyes", an reference to nine small canals in the southern part of the isle. It is a thinly inhabited area, with only one small town - Pahua - on either side of the only mountain passes, which provides a permanent link between the flat (light blue) waters of the Laguna and the deep (dark blue) Pacific Ocean.

Most of the 10 km long tunnel is wooded (green-brown). The atolls are important exporters of custard fruits such as Vanille and Kopra (dried coconut), but the tourist industry becomes a bigger part of the population. The image of the spacecraft ISS024-E-11914 was taken on August 13, 2010 with a Nikon D2Xs 400mm objective Nikon D2Xs and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Experimiment and Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center.

This picture was taken by the Expedition 24 team. We have trimmed and improved the picture in this item to enhance the contrasts.