Native name:
Meheti'a | |
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Coastal view of Osnaburg Island, now Mehetia
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| Geography | |
| Location | Pacific Ocean |
| Coordinates | 17°52′S 148°04′W / 17.867°S 148.067°W / -17.867; -148.067 |
| Archipelago | Society Islands |
| Total islands | 1 |
| Major islands | Mehetia |
| Area | 2.3 km2 (0.89 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 435 m (1427 ft) |
| Highest point | Mont Fareura |
| Administration | |
| Overseas collectivity | French Polynesia |
| Administrative subdivision | Windward Islands |
| Commune | Taiarapu-Est |
| Demographics | |
| Population | uninhabited |
| Mont Fareura | |
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NASA Geocover 2000 image
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 435 m (1,427 ft) |
| Prominence | 435 m (1,427 ft) |
| Coordinates | 17°52′S 148°4′W / 17.867°S 148.067°W / -17.867; -148.067 |
| Geography | |
| Location | Society Islands |
| Geology | |
| Mountain type | Stratovolcano |
| Last eruption | Unknown |
Meheti'aorMe'eti'a is a volcanic island in the Windward Islands, in the east of the Society IslandsinFrench Polynesia. It is a very young active stratovolcano 110 kilometres (68 mi) east of the Taiarapu Peninsula of Tahiti. It belongs to the Teahiti'a-Mehetia hotspot.[1]
The island has an area of 2.3 square kilometres (0.89 sq mi) and its highest point is 435 metres (1,427 ft). The peak is a well-defined volcanic crater. In 1981 the island was the centre of earthquakes.[2][3]
Tahitian oral tradition holds that navigators stopped at Mehiti'a, which was regarded as sacred, on their long voyage to New Zealand.[4] This oral history correlates with geological evidence found in southern New Zealand which can be traced back to Mehiti'a.[5]
The early Polynesian voyagers commonly gave Polynesian ancestral names and symbolism to new places.[6] The high point of Mehetia is Mount Hiurai (Hi’ura’i/Hikurangi)[7] The name Hikurangi in Aotearoa / New Zealand probably came from Mehetia[8] and the name Hi’ura’i probably has its origin in Si'ulagi (Si'ulangi) in Ta'u, Samoa.[9]
The first European sighting was by the Spanish expedition of Pedro Fernández de Quirós on 9 February 1606, that charted it as Decena (ten in Spanish).[10] Later on it was sighted by Samuel Wallis in HMS Dolphin 1767 and Louis Antoine de Bougainville in 1768.[11] It was also sighted by Spanish navigator Domingo de Boenechea on November 6, 1772, on ship Aguila.[11]: 241 He named this island San Cristóbal.
Meheti'a is administratively part of the commune (municipality) of Taiarapu-Est and of its easternmost commune associée Tautira. The island is uninhabited and does not have much vegetation but has a small coral reef on the underwater slopes.
Authority control databases: Geographic  |
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