Marotiri FP
Marotiri - Landsat Image S-06-25_2000
Marotiri - Marplot Map
Marotiri (aka Bass Rocks aka Ilots de Bass) is SE of Rapa. These four pinacle shaped rocks and seldom visited. However, there was a visit July 22, 1934 by a couple of scientists. They spent a few hours scouring these island. They gathered information on the flora and fauna found on this small points of land.
Morotiri or Bass Rocks is a small cluster of 4 rugged volcanic rocks and a number of stacks that form the southeast extremity of the Austral Island Group, in French Polynesia. They are located about 46 miles east by south of Rapa, at about 28S, 143 30W. As nothing of a general nature seems to have beenpublished on their natural history, it may be worthwhile to publish notes made on a short visit on July 22, 1934, when Harold St. John, Elwood C. Zimmerman and I landed on the largest of the rocks and collected what could be found and reached in a couple of hours of scrambling and climbing over guano-covered ledges and cliffs.
The highest of the rocks is about 100 m high and not much more than that wide, several times as long. The rocks were practically without a real covering of vegetation. A sparse growth made up of Cypems, Ridens, Diavia and Portulaca was present on the non-perpendicular slopes and ledges, luxuriant in favorable spots. In the crevices in the rocks Aspleniunz, Neplzrolepis, and Clzeilanthes formed tufts. Solanurn nigmm was present hereand there. Lyciurn was seen on the lowest slopes, and a prostrate Eupizovbia formed mats on one slope on one end of the island. A sterile rosette of Soncizus was seen.
Some of the rocks were sparsely covered with lichens. A sterile moss was occasional around seeps. These seeps were evidently highly charged with lime or some other substance that crystallized out around the cracks.
Under the plants and stones was a remarkably large fauna of insects, spiders, centipedes, and isopods. Of the last, 3 species occurred under stones and a species of Ligia ran around over rocks, collecting in numi>ersunder overhangingrocks.At least 1 species of centipede, 4 or 5 of spiders, 1 or 2 of ticks, 2 of mites, 1 of Lepisma, 1 of Machilis, 2 of Collenibola, 1 cricket, 1 or 2 of ants, 1 lygeid, 4 species of Rhynchogonus, and 1 other weevil all lived under stones and plants. Two or 3 kindsofflies and 2 of moths were seen flying. A louse fly (Ovevsia sp.?) was abundant on shearwaters.
Birds were more than abundant, but nearly all belonged to a species of gray tern and 2 or 3 of shearwater. A couple of white-tailed tropic birds were seen. The shearwaters were nesting and eggs and young were abundant on small ledges and between tufts of sedges. Burrowing would be difficult here.
The rock is composed of more or less bedded basalt, forming a high core in the center, and the two ends are capped with tilted beds of what is probably tuff (described as "apparently sedimentary rock" in my notes at the time).
No coral was seen. Encrusting calcareous algae colored the lower rocks. Non-calcareous algae were reasonably abundant but badly beaten to pieces by wave action. The waves, even at the "quiet" period of our visit, were several meters high, making landing hazardous, to say the least. Acorn barnacles and chitons were seen on the lower rocks.
Fish of many kinds were abundant in the area and many were caught while the ship cruised around the area near the rock while we worked.
(ARB-162:9-10).
This project took about 3-hours to complete. The reason it took so long was I spent an hour gathering information off of the internet about these islands. The article from ARB is an aged jewel. It is not often that people visit these very small places and study them with a scientist's eye.
Enjoy!
Labels: atoll, Australs, EVS, Global Mapper, island, Landsat, map, Marplot, Pacific, Polynesia
