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Fatutaka,Fatu Taka orPatu Taka (also known as Fataka and Mitre Island)[1][2] is a smallvolcanic island inTemotu Province, in the nation ofSolomon Islands, south-westPacific Ocean.The easternmost island in Solomon Islands, Fatutaka is locatedc. 32 km (20 mi) southeast ofAnuta and can be seen from there in clear weather.[3][2]Fatutaka and Anuta were discovered for Europeans by AdmiralEdward Edwards in 1791.[4]
The island, located at11°54′36″S170°11′24″E / 11.91000°S 170.19000°E /-11.91000; 170.19000, is a small rocky outcropping, rising to an elevation of 122 m (400 ft). The total land area of the island is 18 ha (44 acres).[citation needed]
The island's soil is rocky, and not especially fertile, although it has in the past been used as agardening location for the people of Anuta.[citation needed]
The population of Anuta, the closest inhabited island, regularly sail to Fatutaka to eat and collect sea-birds and their eggs.[3]The birds of Fatukaka have never been surveyed although the presence ofFrigatebird,Eastern Reef Egret,Pacific Imperial Pigeon, andEmerald Dove have been reported.[2][5]
Fatutaka is one of numerous volcanic highs, islands and banks, in the north-western North Fiji Basin south of the fossilVitiaz Trench (10°30'–19°S, 169°–174°E). These highs are, however, located up to 240 km (150 mi) from the Vitiaz Trench and do not form a continuous chain derived from the trench, but are a series of massifs aligned on north–south trending faults. Anuta and Fatutaka consist ofbasaltic lavas andandesiticbreccias.[6]
In the 1970s the formation of Anuta and Fatutaka 2.2 Ma was attributed to volcanism in the Vitiaz island arc during the initialback-arc opening of theNorth Fiji Basin. The Vitiaz Arc volcanoes were, however, displaced in an earlier episode and the formation of the islands is now attributed to renewed volcanism associated with a change in motion of thePacific Plate 2 Ma.[7]
| Central | |
|---|---|
| Choiseul | |
| Guadalcanal | |
| Isabel | |
| Makira-Ulawa | |
| Malaita | |
| Rennell and Bellona | |
| Temotu | |
| Western | |
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