Îles Maria
- ISS002-E-10048
- 24 July 2001
- 20:33 UTC
Maria is a small, square-shaped, uninhabited atoll formation located at the extreme northwestern end of the Tubuai chain, 205 km northwest from Rimatara and 325 km east from Mangaia (in the Southern Cook Islands).
The atoll consists of an extremely shallow lagoon with extensive areas of sandbank, a continuous outer reef crest and four small islets with a combined area of 1.4 km²; it is the oldest emergent structure of the Tubuai group. The islets support a dense atoll forest with nearly original vegetation.
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center