Récifs de l'Astrolabe
- Landsat 7
- Path 82, Row 74
- 19 July 2001
The Récifs de l'Astrolabe (Astrolabe Reefs) consist of two small submerged reef formations located upon the Loyalty Ridge. The reefs are situated 95 km northwest from the Loyalty island of Ouvéa and 110 km northeast of Grande Terre.
Both reefs are narrow and elongate in form with their seaward reef-crests facing towards the east; their western sides consist of shallow, semi-protected back-reef environments. The largest reef (which is broken in to a larger southern segment and a small northern segment) has a north to south dimension of around 12 km and is located 23 km west from the smaller eastern reef.
image: millennium coral reefs landsat archive/usf millennium global coral reef mapping project/nasa seawifs/nasa jsc