Kure Atoll

Kure Atoll or Ocean Island lies some 55 miles beyond Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Kure is the northern-most coral atoll in the world. It consists of a ring-shaped barrier reef surrounding a shallow lagoon and several sand islets. The only land of significant size is called Green Island and is habitat for hundreds of thousands of seabirds.

Formerly a U.S. Coast Guard Loran station was located on Green Island.

The geological history of Kure follows the description presented under Midway, but Kure lies close to what is called the Darwin Point. As Kure is carried along to the northwest by the motion of the Pacific Plate, it will eventually move into waters too cool for coral and coralline algae growth to keep up with isostatic subsidence of the mountain. It will slowly join the other volcanic and reef-topped remnants of the Hawaiian-Emperor Chain to the northwest, that are now all seamounts.

External links

• University of Hawai'i
• NOAA maps and remote sensing photos