Mercury Islands
| Mercury Islands | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Waters | Pacific Ocean | |
| Geographical location | 36 ° 38 ′ S , 175 ° 49 ′ E | |
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| Number of islands | 7th | |
| Main island | Great Mercury Island | |
The Mercury Islands are a group of islands off the northeast coast of New Zealand's North Island . Occasionally the earlier name Iles d'Haussez is also used. They are located 8 km off the coast of the Coromandel Peninsula and 35 km northeast of Whitianga and administratively belong to the Waikato region .
The main chain of the Mercury Islands consists of Great Mercury Island ( Māori : Ahuahu) in the west and Red Mercury Island (Māori: Whakau) in the east, plus the much smaller islands Green Island , Korapuki Island , Middle Island (Aitu), Stanley Island ( Kawhitu) and Double Island (Moturehu) as well as some rocky islets between them. Only Great Mercury Island is inhabited, the others are part of a nature reserve. To the south of the main chain, north of the mouth of Mercury Bay, there are numerous other islets. Another island, Cuvier Island , is 15 km north of Great Mercury Island, but this is not part of the archipelago. Great Mercury Iceland is the remnant of a rhyolite - volcano from the Pliocene .
Great Mercury Island is privately owned by Michael Fay , a New Zealand businessman who lives in Switzerland. There are two luxury properties on the island that are rented out.
On November 30, 2009, Rocket Lab launched a Firmatea-1 rocket from Great Mercury Island , which apparently reached a height of over 100 km and thus advanced into space.
literature
- Geology - New Zealand's Geological History - Introduction . In: Alexander Hare McLintock (Ed.): An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . Wellington 1966 (English, online and 12 other pages [accessed December 15, 2015]).
- Topographic maps of New Zealand NZTOPO50, AZ36 map
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alexis Madrigal: Kiwi Rocket Scares Sheep, Reaches Space. In: Wired.com. November 30, 2009, accessed December 29, 2009 .