Maré
- ISS006-E-5823
- 07 December 2002
- 23:49 UTC
Maré is the second largest of the Loyalty Islands (Îles Loyauté) and the southernmost of the three main islands that comprise the Loyalty group. Maré lies 47 km southeast of its larger neighbour of Lifou and 110 km east from the Grande Terre mainland; Anatom — the southernmost island of the Vanuatu archipelago — is located 217 kmto the northeast.
The island is a raised coral formation of 641 km² in area, measuring 42 km in length (northwest to southeast) with a maximum width of 33 km.
The coastline of Maré is steep, being lined with vertical limestone cliffs of up to 138 m in height — the highest point in the Loyalty Islands. The interior of the island forms an extremely flat and fertile plateau that contains a slight central depression. Within the interior are a number of small outcroppings of volcanic rocks — the only reminders of the islands ancient volcanic past.
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center
