Alamagan is an island in the
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...
in the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...
, north of
Guguan
Guguan is an island in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The island is currently uninhabited. Guguan is located south from Alamagan and north from Saipan, and is northeast from Sarigan.
History
Guguan was discovered in 1668 b ...
, north of
Saipan, and south of
Pagan. It is currently uninhabited.
History
Alamagan was once settled by the
Chamorros
The Chamorro people (; also CHamoru) are the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands, politically divided between the United States territory of Guam and the encompassing Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Micronesia. Today, signif ...
, who left behind archaeological evidence including stone columns (called
latte stone
A latte stone, or simply latte (also latde, latti, or latdi), is a Column, pillar (Chamorro language: ''haligi'') capped by a Sphere, hemispherical stone capital (architecture), capital (''tasa'') with the flat side facing up. Used as building sup ...
s) and ceramics. From a European perspective, Alamagan was discovered in 1669 by the Spanish missionary
Diego Luis de San Vitores, who named it ''Concepción'' (
Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception.
It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...
in Spanish). It is likely that it was previously visited in 1522 by the Spanish sailor
Gonzalo de Vigo, a deserter from the
Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the East ...
expedition in 1521 and the first European castaway in the history of the Pacific. In 1695, Alamagan's natives were forcibly removed to
Saipan, and three years later to
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
.
Following the sale of the Northern Marianas by Spain to the
German Empire in 1899, Alamagan was administered as part of
German New Guinea
German New Guinea (german: Deutsch-Neu-Guinea) consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups and was the first part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , ...
. During this time, a private firm, the Pagan Society, owned by a German and a Japanese partner, developed more coconut plantations. However, severe typhoons in September 1905, September 1907 and December 1913 destroyed the plantations and bankrupted the company.
During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Alamagan came under the control of the
Empire of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...
and was administered as the
South Seas Mandate. Following
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, it came under the control of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and was administered as part of the
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1994.
History
Spain initially claimed the islands that later composed the territory of the Trus ...
. Since 1978, it has been part of the
Northern Islands Municipality
Northern Islands Municipality is one of the four main political divisions of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. It consists of a long string of the northernmost islands of the Northern Marianas, including (from north to south) Far ...
of the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonwea ...
.
![Choiwan_Damage](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Choiwan_Damage.png)
The island was inhabited, and continued to be used for the production of
copra
Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from co ...
, with the main settlements of Song Song in the south and Patida camp in the northwest. However, by 1962 the population had dropped so much that the elementary school was closed for lack of students. Due to increased volcanic activity, the islanders were evacuated in December 1998 when an eruption was feared. At the 2000 census, only six people were living on Alamagan. In September 2009,
Typhoon Choi-wan passed directly over Alamagan, destroying many of the island's trees and forcing the evacuation of the remaining residents to
Saipan.
As of the
2010 United States Census
The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...
, the island is uninhabited.
Geography
![Txu-pclmaps-oclc-22834566 j-14c](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Txu-pclmaps-oclc-22834566_j-14c.jpg)
Alamagan is roughly elliptical in shape, with a length of , width of , and area of . The entire island is the summit of a
stratovolcano which rises over from the ocean floor, to an altitude of above sea level at Bandeera Peak, at the north-western edge. The volcano is topped by a caldera, 700–900 meters in diameter and about deep. There are three smaller cones to the north, northwest and south of the main crater. The volcano has not erupted in historical times, but by
radiocarbon dating, eruptions occurred in 540 AD and 870 AD, with a potential dating error of around 100 years. These eruptions involved
pyroclastic flow
A pyroclastic flow (also known as a pyroclastic density current or a pyroclastic cloud) is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter (collectively known as tephra) that flows along the ground away from a volcano at average speeds of b ...
s and had a
VEI of 4. Any claims of historical eruptions are inaccurate, though uncertain eruptions have occurred as late as 1887.
Within the main crater and on the western slopes are a number of active
fumaroles
A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or other rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volcani ...
.
The island has extremely steep slopes on its eastern side which are prone to landslides. The western slope has deep canyons as the result of erosion. The shoreline is dominated by steep cliffs of up to on the eastern shore. Vegetation on the island's west side includes swordgrass (''
Miscanthus floridulus''). The south-east side is a steep slope of bare lava. Coconut palms (''
Cocos nucifera
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the f ...
),'' grow on the gradual slopes. There are deep valleys with caves, and there are fresh water springs on the northern part of the west coast.
Important Bird Area
The island has been recognised as an
Important Bird Area (IBA) by
BirdLife International because it supports populations of
Micronesian megapode
The Micronesian megapode or Micronesian scrubfowl (''Megapodius laperouse'') is an endangered megapode which inhabits islands of the Western Pacific Ocean.
Description
The Micronesian megapode is a stocky medium-sized bird that is mostly dark b ...
s,
white-throated ground dove
The white-throated ground dove (''Pampusana xanthonura'') is a species of ground dove in the genus ''Gallicolumba''. It is classified as near-threatened.
This species was formerly in the genus ''Alopecoenas'' Sharpe, 1899, but the name of the ...
s,
Micronesian myzomela
The Micronesian myzomela (''Myzomela rubratra'') is a species of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. The species forms a superspecies with a number of related and similar looking island and mainland myzomelas across the Pacific and Austra ...
s,
Saipan reed warbler
The Saipan reed warbler (''Acrocephalus hiwae'') is a critically endangered songbird of the Northern Mariana Islands. It is considered a subspecies of the nightingale reed warbler by some taxonomists. It occurs on two islands: Saipan and Alama ...
s and
Micronesian starling
The Micronesian starling (''Aplonis opaca'') is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. It is found in Micronesia, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tro ...
s.
[ ]
Demographics
As of 1980 the population of Alamagan was 36.
[''Northern Mariana Islands Coastal Resources Management: Environmental Impact Statement''. ]National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
, 1980. p
37
See also
*
List of stratovolcanoes
A list of stratovolcanoes follows below.
Africa
Cameroon
* Mount Cameroon
Democratic Republic of Congo
* Mount Nyiragongo, Goma; designated as a Decade Volcano
** It contains an active lava lake inside its crater which overflowed due t ...
References
* Russell E. Brainard et al.: ''Coral reef ecosystem monitoring report of the Mariana Archipelago: 2003–2007.'' (=''PIFSC Special Publication'', SP-12-01)
NOAA Fisheries, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center 2012
Kapitel Alamagan(englisch, PDF, 12,2 MB)).
* Richard B. Moore, Frank A. Trusdell: ''Geologic map of Alamagan Volcano, northern Mariana Islands.''
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...
1993
Download.
External links
and
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20140427193501/http://gaebler.info/sonstiges/marianen.htm#alamagan Alamaganbr>
Marianas Archipelago Coral Reef Ecosystems Monitoring Program*
*
Notes
{{Northern Mariana Islands
Former German colonies
Islands of the Northern Mariana Islands
Active volcanoes
Volcanoes of the Northern Mariana Islands
Stratovolcanoes of the United States
Calderas of Oceania
Uninhabited islands of the Northern Mariana Islands
Important Bird Areas of the Northern Mariana Islands
Holocene stratovolcanoes