Mauritius
- ISS006-E-38525
- 15 March 2003
- 06:50 UTC
Situated in the southern tropical belt of the Indian Ocean, Mauritius — the second largest and most populous of the Mascarene Islands — is located 880 km east of Madagascar and 170 km northeast of the French territory of Réunion. The outlying island of Rodrigues (570 km to the east), the islets and reefs of the Cargados Carajos Shoals (400 km to the northeast) and the two islands of Agalega are dependent territories of Mauritius. The island is roughly oval in shape, measuring 61 km in length and 46 km in width, with a total land area of 1,865 km². In addition to the main island, its lagoon and offshore regions contain 47 minor islets ranging in size from 0.25 km² to 2.53 km².
The island is volcanic in origin, having formed around 12 million years ago — the last activity on the island occurred over 100,000 years ago. It consists of a central region of plateau and uplands (300 to 600 m above sea level) that is surrounded by several mountain ranges — the MokaLong Mountain Range, the Rivière Noire Mountains, the Savanne Mountains and the Grand Port Range. This ring of mountain ranges (600 to 800 m in height) are the caldera remnants of the ancient shield volcano that gave rise to the island. The highest point is at the Piton de la Petite Riviére Noire where an elevation of 828 m is reached. The mountains are fringed by a low-lying to hilly coastal plain in the north, east and south. Parts of the south and west coasts drop to the sea in steep cliffs.
The coastline of Mauritius, like the interior, is varied. Around 150 km of its 205 km long coastline is bordered by a system of fringing reefs, barrier reefs and lagoons — the total area of lagoon is in the region of 240 km². Reefs extend up to 4.5 km offshore along the east coast and come close to shore on the leeward west coast. The coast also contains areas of mangrove, estaurine and saltwater wetlands and beaches of sand or rock.
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center
