Walpole Island
- ISS006-E-5742
- 02 December 2002
- 02:05 UTC
Located around 140 km east from the Île des Pins and 135 km southeast from the island of Maré in the Loyalty Islands group (see panoramic image), Walpole is one of three eastern islands claimed as dependent territories of New Caledonia. The other eastern dependencies of New Caledonia, Matthew Island and Hunter Island, lie 215 km and 290 km to the east, respectively. Walpole Island is located upon a large submarine feature that also includes the Banc de L'Orne to the north.
Walpole measures 3 km in length and 400 m in width. Formed from coral limestone, the island has been geologically uplifted to form a flat and narrow plateau that is ringed by near vertical cliffs ranging in height from 70 m to over 100 m at the southern tip. Much of the interior of the island is barren or vegetated with sparse scrub; in the south are regions of woodland. In the east, the plateau drops to a terrace formation that is more thickly vegetated.
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center
