Mehetia

Mehetia
Native name: Meheti'a
Coastal view of Osnaburg Island (now Mehetia, French Polynesia)
Geography
Location Pacific Ocean
Coordinates 17°52′S 148°04′W / 17.867°S 148.067°W / -17.867; -148.067Coordinates: 17°52′S 148°04′W / 17.867°S 148.067°W / -17.867; -148.067
Archipelago Society Islands
Total islands 1
Major islands Mehetia
Area 2.3 km2 (0.89 sq mi)
Highest elevation 435 m (1,427 ft)
Highest point Mont Fareura
Administration
Overseas collectivity French Polynesia
Administrative subdivision Windward Islands
Commune Taiarapu-Est
Demographics
Population 0
Mont Fareura
NASA Geocover 2000 image
Highest point
Elevation 435 m (1,427 ft)
Prominence 435 m (1,427 ft)
Coordinates 17°52′S 148°4′W / 17.867°S 148.067°W / -17.867; -148.067 
Geography
Location Society Islands
Geology
Mountain type Stratovolcano
Last eruption Unknown

Meheti'a or Me'eti'a is a volcanic island in the Windward Islands, in the east of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. This island is a very young active stratovolcano 110 kilometres (68 mi) east of the Taiarapu Peninsula of Tahiti. It belongs to the Teahiti'a-Mehetia hotspot.

The island has an area of 2.3 square kilometres (0.89 sq mi) and its highest point is 435 metres (1,427 ft). Meheti'a's well-defined volcanic crater contains a very active hot point. In 1981 the island was the centre of earthquakes.

History

The first European sighting was by the Spanish expedition of Pedro Fernández de Quirós on 9 February 1606, that charted it as Decena (ten in Spanish).[1] Later on it was sighted by Samuel Wallis in HMS Dolphin 1767 and Louis Antoine de Bougainville in 1768.[2] It was also sighted by Spanish navigator Domingo de Boenechea on November 6, 1772 on ship Aguila.[2]:241 He named this island San Cristóbal.

Administration

Meheti'a is administratively part of the commune (municipality) of Taiarapu-Est and of its easternmost commune associée Tautira. The island is uninhabited and doesn't have much vegetation but has a small coral reef on the underwater slopes.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Corney, Bolton Granvill The quest and occupation of Tahiti by emissaries of Spain during the years 1772-1776, London, 1913, Vol I, p.XXX
  2. 1 2 Salmond, Anne (2010). Aphrodite's Island. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 39, 45, 93. ISBN 9780520261143.


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