Huvadhoo
- ISS010-7292
- 17 November 2004
- 08:56 UTC
Huvadhoo Atoll/Gaafu Atoll (often referred to on western maps as Suvadiva) is located near the southern end of the Maldive chain of atolls, lying 83 km northwards — across the 2,377 m deep Equatorial Channel — from Addu (the southernmost atoll) and 95 km southwards — across the One and a Half Degree Channel — from Hadhdhunmathee. Administratively it is split into two units: Gaafu Alif Atoll (Northern Huvadhoo Atoll) in the north and Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll (Southern Huvadhoo Atoll) in the south.
Huvadhoo (see west, east, north, and southwest images) is the second largest of the Maldivian atolls and the second largest in the world (in terms of overall surface area), measuring 82 km north to south and up to 65 km in width across its centre, covering an area of some 3,200 km². It consists of a 65 km by 58 km circular-shaped ring of reefs with a smaller, thumb-like, extension of 23 km by 27 km at the northern end, enclosing a deep central lagoon (up to 85 m in depth) that is studded throughout with numerous smaller patch reefs, coral knolls, faros and small coral islets. The outermost reefs of the atoll form a discontinuous barrier to the open ocean, being composed of 40 reef segments separated from one another by deep passages connecting the open waters of the Indian Ocean with those of the interior lagoon.
Low coral islands can be found along much of the reef rim, but are absent from the northwest sections of the main body of the atoll and from the far north; most islands are located upon the east, southeast, south and southwestern reef rim as well as being scattered within the lagoon itself. In all the atoll contains 280 islands, with the vast majority of these being of less than 1 km² in area; the largest islands are found in the south. Islands tend to be elongate in shape with average widths of between 400 m and 800 m and with lengths of between 500 m and 1,500 m. The main islands of the atoll include: Vaadhoo (1.674 km²), Hoandeddhoo (0.855 km²), and Kondey (1.044 km²). The largest of the islands (and seventh largest of all Maldivian islands) is that of Gan, located on the southeast, with an area of 2.636 km².
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center
