Guguan 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 continen ...
. The island is currently uninhabited. Guguan is located south from
Alamagan
Alamagan is an island in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean, north of Guguan, north of Saipan, and south of Pagan. It is currently uninhabited.
History
Alamagan was once settled by the Chamorros, who left behind archaeological ...
and north from
Saipan
Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...
, and is northeast from
Sarigan.
History
Guguan was discovered in 1668 by the Spanish missionary
Diego Luis de Sanvitores who charted it as ''San Felipe''. It is likely that it was previously visited in 1522 by the Spanish sailor
Gonzalo de Vigo, deserter from the
Magellan expedition in 1521, who was the first European castaway in the history of the Pacific. Uninhabited at the time, in contrast to other islands in the Marianas it was never colonized. As with the other islands in the northern Marianna, Guguan was sold by Spain to the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
in 1899, and administered as part of
German New Guinea. From 1909 to 1912, the island was leased to a Japanese company, who sent hunters to gather bird feathers for the European hat industry.
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 ...
, Guguan 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 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...
and was subsequently administered as the
South Seas Mandate
The South Seas Mandate, officially the Mandate for the German Possessions in the Pacific Ocean Lying North of the Equator, was a League of Nations mandate in the "South Seas" given to the Empire of Japan by the League of Nations following Wo ...
. 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 opposin ...
, the island 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 territorie ...
and was administered as part of the
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Since 1978, the island has been part of the
Northern Islands Municipality of the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Geography
![Txu-pclmaps-oclc-22834566 j-14c](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Txu-pclmaps-oclc-22834566_j-14c.jpg)
Guguan is roughly circular in shape, with a length of and a width of and an area of . The island consists of two
stratovolcano
A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...
es, the southern of which having a height of above sea level, and the northern of which having a height of
. The only recorded eruption was around in 1883, from the northern peak, which produced
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 bu ...
s as well as
lava
Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...
flows which reached the coast. The coast is bordered by steep
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
ic rock with gables of high ridges which contain deep, rain-eroded gorges.
Environment
In the early 1980s, Guguan was set aside as a nature preserve by the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). It has never been permanently settled by humans and is free from feral species such as feral camels, cats, chickens, dogs, donkeys, goats, horses, mice, pigeons, pigs, rabbits, rats. Among the undisturbed wildlife is the rare
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 ...
''Megapodius laperouse'' which can be found only in the Northern Marianas and the
Palau
Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...
Islands.
[Brainard, ]
Coral reef ecosystem monitoring report
', S. 2 The island has been recognised as an
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
(IBA) by
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...
because it supports populations of Micronesian megapodes,
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,
sooty tern
The sooty tern (''Onychoprion fuscatus'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans, returning to land only to breed on islands throughout the equatorial zone.
Taxonomy
The sooty tern was described by Carl Linnaeu ...
s,
grey-backed tern
The spectacled tern (''Onychoprion lunatus''), also known as the grey-backed tern, is a seabird in the family Laridae.
Description
A close relative of the bridled and sooty terns (with which it is sometimes confused), the spectacled tern is les ...
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 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.
References
* Russell E. Brainard et al.: ''Coral reef ecosystem monitoring report of the Mariana Archipelago: 2003–2007.'' (=''PIFSC Special Publication'', SP-12-01)
NOAA
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 ...
Fisheries, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center 2012
External links
*
Pascal Horst Lehne and Christoph Gäbler: ''Über die Marianen.'' Lehne-Verlag, Wohldorf in Germany 1972.an
Guguan*
{{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
Seabird colonies