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The Pacific Ocean islands are not part of a submerged landmass but rather the tips of isolated volcanoes. Map of Easter Island showing locations of the ahu and moai. This is the case, in particular, of Easter Island, which is a recent volcanic peak surrounded by deep ocean (3,000 m deep at 30 km off the island).
The Pacific plate is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At 103 million km 2 (40 million sq mi), it is the largest tectonic plate. [2] The plate first came into existence as a microplate 190 million years ago, at the triple junction between the Farallon, Phoenix, and Izanagi plates. The Pacific plate subsequently grew ...
The umbrella term Pacific Islands has taken on several meanings. [1] Sometimes it is used to refer only to the islands defined as lying within Oceania. [2] [3] [4] At other times, it is used to refer to the islands of the Pacific Ocean that were previously colonized by the British, French, Spaniards, Portuguese, Dutch, or Japanese, or by the United States.
The archipelago sits on the Pacific plate. The islands are exposed peaks of a great undersea mountain range known as the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain, formed by volcanic activity over the Hawaiian hotspot. The islands are about 1,860 miles (3,000 km) from the nearest continent and are part of the Polynesia subregion of Oceania.
The East Pacific Rise near Easter Island is the fastest spreading mid-ocean ridge, with a spreading rate of over 15 cm/yr. [2] The Pacific plate moves generally towards the northwest at between 7 and 11 cm/yr while the Juan De Fuca plate has an east-northeasterly movement of some 4 cm/yr. [3]
Nauru is an oval-shaped island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, 42 km (26 mi) south of the Equator, listed as the world's smallest republic, covering just 21 km 2 (8 sq mi). [21] With 12,511 residents, it is the third least-populated country , after Vatican City and Tuvalu .
New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa) is an island country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, near the centre of the water hemisphere. It consists of a large number of islands, estimated around 700, mainly remnants of a larger landmass now beneath the sea.
The Polynesian Triangle is a geographical region of the Pacific Ocean with Hawaii (Hawaiʻi) (1), New Zealand (Aotearoa) (2) and Easter Island (Rapa Nui) (3) at its corners, but excluding Fiji on its western side. At the center is Tahiti (5), with Samoa (4) to the west.