Utirik

Utirik
	NASA satellite image from Utirik
Waters	Pacific Ocean
archipelago	Marshall Islands
Geographical location	11 ° 15 ' N , 169 ° 48' E Coordinates: 11 ° 15 ' N , 169 ° 48' E
Number of islands	10
Main island	Utirik
length	16 km
width	10 km
Land area	2.43 km²
Lagoon area	55.73 km²
total area	91 km²
Residents	435 (2011)
	Map of the Utirik Atoll

Utirik or Utrok or Utrik (German outdated: Kutuzov Islands ) is an atoll of the Ratak chain of the Marshall Islands . The atoll has a land area of 2.43 km² with a lagoon area of 55.73 km². The total area including the reef platform is 91 km². The lagoon has depths of up to 49 meters. The Utirik Passage ( Tolap ) in the west is the only navigable access to the lagoon. There are also three smaller boat passages, also on the west side of the atoll (Tomouj, Toejamkan, Toreinpo).

The six largest islands are: Utirik , Aon , Bikrak , Pike , Allok, Nalap . Only the main island Utirik is inhabited, on whose west side facing the lagoon lies the only village of the same name. The atoll's airfield ( IATA airport code UTK) is along the south side of the main island.

Nine kilometers to the southwest is the uninhabited atoll Toke , which is regularly visited by the residents of Utirik.

history

In 1954, following Operation Castle's Bravo test, the island's 157 residents were exposed to radioactive fallout that had been carried over from Bikini Atoll after 22 hours. The average radiation exposure was 14 Roentgen . The residents were brought to Kwajalein, along with the even more highly contaminated residents of Rongelap and 28 soldiers from a weather station, where a team from the hematology department of the Naval Medical Research Institute , Bethesda, Md. Examined and tested them. "It was important to find out as soon as possible the extent of the radiation each patient had received."

literature

Marshall I. Weisler: Life on the Edge: Prehistoric Settlement and Economy on Utrōk Atoll, Northern Marshall Islands . In: Archeology in Oceania , Vol. 36, No. 3, October 2001, pp. 109-133 ( JSTOR 40387201 )

Web links

Geographical information (English)
Flora and fauna (English)

Individual evidence

^ Heinrich Schnee (ed.): German Colonial Lexicon . Quelle & Meyer, Leipzig 1920, 3 volumes
↑ Atoll Area, Depth, and Rainfall (PDF)
^ Marshall I. Weisler: Life on the Edge: Prehistoric Settlement and Economy on Utrōk Atoll, Northern Marshall Islands . In: Archeology in Oceania , Vol. 36, No. 3, October 2001, pp. 109-133
↑ Steven L. Simon, André Bouville, Charles E. Land: Fallout from Nuclear Weapons Tests and Cancer Risks: Exposures 50 years ago still have health implications today that will continue into the future . In: American Scientist , 94/1, 2006, p. 52
^ ^A ^b Radioactive Fallout in the Marshall Islands . In: Science , New Series 122 (No. 3181, Dec. 16), 1955, p. 1178

[1] Heinrich Schnee (ed.): German Colonial Lexicon . Quelle & Meyer, Leipzig 1920, 3 volumes

[2] Atoll Area, Depth, and Rainfall (PDF)

[3] Marshall I. Weisler: Life on the Edge: Prehistoric Settlement and Economy on Utrōk Atoll, Northern Marshall Islands . In: Archeology in Oceania , Vol. 36, No. 3, October 2001, pp. 109-133

[4] Steven L. Simon, André Bouville, Charles E. Land: Fallout from Nuclear Weapons Tests and Cancer Risks: Exposures 50 years ago still have health implications today that will continue into the future . In: American Scientist , 94/1, 2006, p. 52

[Science-5] A ^b Radioactive Fallout in the Marshall Islands . In: Science , New Series 122 (No. 3181, Dec. 16), 1955, p. 1178