Raivavae
- ISS001-375-13
- 13 February 2001
- 22:23 UTC
Located midway along the Tubuai chain, 195 km southeast from the island of Tubuai, Raivavae is a 15 km long by 8 km wide almost-atoll formation with a total land area of 16 km².
The formation consists of a central, high island (also called Raivavae) — measuring 8.5 km by 2.3 km — that sits within a shallow lagoon. The main island has a rugged terrain with a deeply contoured landscape, rising to 437 m at Mt. Hiro. Much of the island is covered in lowland and montane rain forest, within which are found several important endemic plant species.
Surrounding the lagoon is a reef with a series of motu along the southern and eastern sides. They include Motu Mano, Motu Vaiamanu, and Motu Haaamu. The northern side of the outer reef is less well-developed and is open in its central section where it is broken by a wide reef-crossing passage.
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center
