Mehetiʻa
Native name: Mehetiʻa | |
|---|---|
| File:Mehetia-osnaburg.jpg Coastal view of Osnaburg Island, now Mehetia | |
| File:Karta FP Societe isl.PNG | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Pacific Ocean |
| Coordinates | Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 489: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
| Archipelago | Society Islands |
| Total islands | 1 |
| Major islands | Mehetia |
| Area | 2.3 km2 (0.89 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 435 m (1427 ft) |
| Highest point | Mont Fareura |
| Administration | |
| Overseas collectivity | French Polynesia |
| Administrative subdivision | Windward Islands |
| Commune | Taiarapu-Est |
| Demographics | |
| Population | uninhabited |
| Mont Fareura | |
|---|---|
| File:Mehetia NASA 2000.jpg NASA Geocover 2000 image | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 435 m (1,427 ft) |
| Prominence | 435 m (1,427 ft) |
| Coordinates | Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
| Geography | |
| Lua error in Module:Infobox_mapframe at line 197: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| Location | Society Islands |
| Geology | |
| Mountain type | Stratovolcano |
| Last eruption | Unknown |
Mehetiʻa or Meʻetiʻa is a volcanic island in the Windward Islands, in the east of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is a very young active stratovolcano 110 kilometres (68 mi) east of the Taiarapu Peninsula of Tahiti. It belongs to the Teahitiʻa-Mehetia hotspot.[1]
The island has an area of 2.3 square kilometres (0.89 sq mi) and its highest point is 435 metres (1,427 ft). The peak is a well-defined volcanic crater. In 1981 the island was the centre of earthquakes.[2][3]
History
[edit | edit source]Tahitian oral tradition holds that navigators stopped at Mehitiʻa, which was regarded as sacred, on their long voyage to New Zealand.[4] This oral history correlates with geological evidence found in southern New Zealand which can be traced back to Mehitiʻa.[5]
The early Polynesian voyagers commonly gave Polynesian ancestral names and symbolism to new places.[6] The high point of Mehetia is Mount Hiurai (Hi’ura’i/Hikurangi)[7] The name Hikurangi in Aotearoa / New Zealand probably came from Mehetia[8] and the name Hi’ura’i probably has its origin in Siʻulagi (Siʻulangi) in Taʻu, Samoa.[9]
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).[10] Later on it was sighted by Samuel Wallis in HMS Dolphin 1767 and Louis Antoine de Bougainville in 1768.[11] It was also sighted by Spanish navigator Domingo de Boenechea on November 6, 1772, on ship Aguila.[11]: 241 He named this island San Cristóbal.
Administration
[edit | edit source]Mehetiʻa is administratively part of the commune (municipality) of Taiarapu-Est and of its easternmost commune associée Tautira. The island is uninhabited and does not have much vegetation but has a small coral reef on the underwater slopes.
See also
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References
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- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- ^ "Ancestral Naming of Places",
- ^ "Mount Hiurai (Hi’ura’i/Hikurangi)"
- ^ "Mount Hiurai (Hi’ura’i/Hikurangi)"
- ^ "Siʻulagi(Siʻulangi)in Taʻu"
- ^ Corney, Bolton Granvill The quest and occupation of Tahiti by emissaries of Spain during the years 1772-1776, London, 1913, Vol I, p.XXX
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]
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