Fonualei

Fonualei
NASA satellite image of Fonualei
Waters	Pacific Ocean
Archipelago	Tonga Islands
Geographical location	18 ° 1 '26 "  S , 174 ° 18' 58"  W Coordinates: 18 ° 1 '26 "  S , 174 ° 18' 58"  W
length	2.6 km
width	2.3 km
surface	5 km²
Highest elevation	180  m
Residents	uninhabited

Fonualei is an uninhabited volcanic island in the north of the Pacific island state of Tonga, about five square kilometers in size . It is located in the north of the Vava'u Islands, around 50 km north of the main island of the group. The closest island is the smaller volcanic island of Toku 19.7 kilometers to the southeast.

The highest point on the two-kilometer-wide island of Fonualei is 180 meters. The island volcano, which is difficult to access, was active in 1791, 1846, 1847, 1906, 1939, 1951 and most recently in 1974. Here, explosive eruptions alternated with those with lava production. In terms of volcanic type, it corresponds to the stratovolcano or stratovolcano .

On the island there is a population of the Tonga big foot fowl ( Megapodius pritchardii ) settled in 1993 and 1994 . A total of around 70 eggs from Malau , as the Tongans call the big-footed hen , were buried on the island by the German ornithologist Dieter Rinke . Ten years later, a census has given an estimated population of 300 to 500 individuals.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Tongan big foot fowl (Megapodius pritchardii) on Fonulei in the focus of German ornithologists ( Memento from October 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )

literature

• D. Gerstle; Gentle people, into the heart of Vavaʻu 1781-1973; Tofua press 1973
• Dirk HR Spennemann, The June 1846 Eruption of Fonualei Volcano, Tonga. An Historical Analysis (PDF; 6.9 MB). The Johnstone Center. Report Nº 196.

Web links

• Fonualei in the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution (English)
• Subject of German research efforts from 1999 to 2001