Île de la Réunion
- STS103-302-8
- 25 December 1999
- 05:15 UTC
Réunion, the largest of the Mascarene Islands, is a French Dependent Territory located in the southwest Indian Ocean 170 km southwest from Mauritius and 715 km east from Madagascar. With an area of 2,500 km² Réunion measures 70 km in length and 40 km across.
The distant islands and reefs found within and around the Mozambique Channel — Bassas da India, Île Europa, Juan de Nova and the Îles Glorieuses — are dependent territories of Réunion. Tromelin, located 560 km to the north, is also a dependent territory of Réunion.
Being the youngest (around 2 million years) of the Mascarene Islands, Réunion has a steep and rugged topography rising to a height of 3,069 m at the Piton des Neiges — the highest island peak in the Indian Ocean. The island is composed from two volcanic overlapping shield structures similar to those found in the Hawaiian Islands: the centrally located and extinct Piton des Neiges and the active Piton de la Fournaise (2,631 m). The Piton de la Fournaise is one of the most active volcanoes of the Indian Ocean region with over 150 eruption being recorded in the last 300 years. The interior contains three calderas formed at about 250,000, 65,000, and less than 5,000 years ago by progressive eastward slumping of the volcano (see large size image). The islands youthful age give its interior a dramatic terrain of precipitous ridges, rugged peaks and deep valleys.
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center
