Toke Atoll or Taka Atoll (
Marshallese: , ) is a small, uninhabited
coral atoll
Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secre ...
in the
Ratak Chain
The Ratak Chain ( Marshallese: , ) is a chain of islands within the island nation of the Marshall Islands. Ratak means "sunrise". It lies to the east of the country's other island chain, the Ralik Chain. In 1999 the total population of the Rata ...
of the
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Intern ...
. It is one of the smaller atolls in the Marshalls and located at . It is visited regularly by the residents of nearby
Utirik Atoll
Utirik Atoll or Utrik Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 10 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only , but it encloses a lagoon with an area ...
.
Geography
The atoll is north of
Majuro
Majuro (; Marshallese: ' ) is the capital and largest city of the Marshall Islands. It is also a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean. It forms a legislative district of the Ratak (Sunrise) Chain of the Marshall Islands. The ato ...
Atoll, the
capital of the Marshall Islands, and southwest of
Utirik Atoll
Utirik Atoll or Utrik Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 10 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only , but it encloses a lagoon with an area ...
. It comprises six islands with a combined land area of and a lagoon area of .
Physical features
The atoll is roughly triangular in shape, its length and width approximately . The highest point is
above sea level. The small land area is the second smallest in the Marshalls, besting only
Bikar. Among its islets, only Toke, Eluk, and Lojrong are large enough to support permanent vegetation. The other sand islets have shown considerable shifting in size and location over the years. Ground water sampled from the midsection of Toke islet is brackish, with chloride levels of 440 to 840 ppm (compared to 19400 ppm for sea water) With a moderately shallow lagoon and single, deep, narrow western passage through the reef, Toke and its neighbor Utirik are an intermediate atoll type between the shallow, perched lagoons of
Bokak and Bikar, and the deep lagoons and many reef passages of the central Marshall atolls.
[ Atoll Research Bulletin No. 419, page 26]
Based on the results of drilling operations on
Enewetak
Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with it ...
(Eniwetok) Atoll, in the nearby Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands, Toke may include as much as of reef material atop a
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an 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 surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...
rock base. As most local coral growth stops at about below the ocean surface, such a massive stony coral base suggests a gradual
isostatic subsidence of the underlying extinct volcano,
which itself rises from the surrounding ocean floor. Shallow water fossils taken from just above Enewetak's basalt base are dated to about 55
mya.
Soils are ultimately based on storm-driven ridges of coral rubble, standing high. Away from the shorelines, soils are primarily sandy. A thick layer of humus with a phosphate hardpan lies under the Pisonia forests.
Climate
Toke is moderately dry, with annual precipitation in the range of . Air temperature is usually near . The prevailing trade winds are from the northeast.
[ Atoll Research Bulletin No. 127] Rainfall in the Marshalls is primarily influenced by the equatorial front, which expands seasonally to 11 degrees north. To the north of that zone, rainfall quickly falls off. A quarter degree further north of Toke, annual rainfall at Enewetak Atoll is per year.
Vegetation
Facing the lagoon shore, about a quarter of Toke islet is planted in
coconuts with a thick ground cover of ''
Microsorum
''Microsorum'' is a genus of ferns in the family Polypodiaceae, subfamily Microsoroideae, according to the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I). The species are tropical. Like most ferns, they grow from rhizomes, ...
scolopendria''. There is a small grove of ''
Pisonia grandis
''Pisonia grandis'', the grand devil's-claws, is a species of flowering tree in the ''Bougainvillea'' family, Nyctaginaceae.
Description
The tree has broad, thin leaves, smooth bark and bears clusters of green sweet-smelling flowers that matu ...
'', while the rest of the islet is covered with brushy woods of ''
Heliotropium foertherianum
''Heliotropium arboreum'' is a species of flowering plant in the borage family, Boraginaceae. It is native to tropical Asia including southern China, Madagascar, northern Australia, and most of the atolls and high islands of Micronesia and Polyn ...
'', ''
Portulaca oleracea
''Portulaca oleracea'' (common purslane, also known as little hogweed, or pursley) is an annual (actually tropical perennial in USDA growing zones 10–11) succulent in the family Portulacaceae.
Description
The plant may reach in height. It ...
'', and ''
Pandanus tectorius
''Pandanus tectorius'' is a species of ''Pandanus'' (screwpine) that is native to Malesia, Papuasia, eastern Australia, and the Pacific Islands. It grows in the coastal lowlands typically near the edge of the ocean. Common names in English incl ...
'', fringed by ''
Lepturus repens
''Lepturus'' (common name thintail) is a genus of plants in the grass family, native to Asia, Africa, Australia, and various islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
; Species
* '' Lepturus anadabolavensis'' A.Camus - Madagascar
* '' Lepturus a ...
'' grasses, ''
Laportea
''Laportea'' is a genus of plants in the family Urticaceae. They are herbaceous, either annual or perennial. Like many plants of the Urticaceae, they have stinging hairs. There are stinging and non-stinging hairs on the same plant. The genus was ...
ruderalis'' shrubs, ''
Boerhavia diffusa
''Boerhaavia diffusa'' is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family which is commonly known as punarnava (meaning that which rejuvenates or renews the body in Ayurveda), red spiderling, spreading hogweed, or tarvine. It is taken in ...
'', ''
B. tetrandra'' and other typical Marshallese species. There is also a tiny grove of ''Pisonia'' on Lojiron.
Fauna
Toke supports a healthy coral reef, with over 93 coral types identified. Evidence of green sea turtle nesting has been found on the three largest islets, and hawksbill sea turtles have been seen along the outer reef. The lagoon is home to the rare giant clam
Tridacna gigas
The giant clams are the members of the clam genus ''Tridacna'' that are the largest living bivalve mollusks. There are actually several species of "giant clams" in the genus ''Tridacna'', which are often misidentified for ''Tridacna gigas'', ...
, as well as smaller giant clam varieties. The number of specimens is lower than that seen at Bokak and Bikar, perhaps because of poaching by foreign fishermen.
Nineteen bird species are presently known on Toke Atoll. These include the
reef heron Reef heron could refer to:
* Western reef heron (''Egretta gularis'')
* Pacific reef heron
The Pacific reef heron (''Egretta sacra''), also known as the eastern reef heron or eastern reef egret, is a species of heron found throughout southern ...
, the migratory
pectoral sandpiper
The pectoral sandpiper (''Calidris melanotos'') is a small, migratory wader that breeds in North America and Asia, wintering in South America and Oceania. It eats small invertebrates. Its nest, a hole scraped in the ground and with a thick linin ...
and
accidental examples of the
spotted sandpiper
The spotted sandpiper (''Actitis macularius'') is a small shorebird. Together with its sister species the common sandpiper (''A. hypoleucos''), it makes up the genus ''Actitis''. They replace each other geographically; stray birds may settle do ...
and
skua
The skuas are a group of predatory seabirds with seven species forming the genus ''Stercorarius'', the only genus in the family Stercorariidae. The three smaller skuas, the long-tailed skua, the Arctic skua, and the pomarine skua are called ...
, for which Toke is their only sighting in Marshall Islands. Others include the resident
crested tern,
sooty tern,
brown noddy
The brown noddy or common noddy (''Anous stolidus'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. The largest of the noddies, it can be told from the closely related black noddy by its larger size and plumage, which is dark brown rather than black. The b ...
,
black noddy
The black noddy or white-capped noddy (''Anous minutus'') is a seabird from the family Laridae. It is a medium-sized species of tern with black plumage and a white cap. It closely resembles the lesser noddy (''Anous tenuirostris'') with which it ...
,
white tern
The white tern or common white tern (''Gygis alba'') is a small seabird found across the tropical oceans of the world. It is sometimes known as the fairy tern, although this name is potentially confusing as it is also the common name of '' Sternu ...
,
black-naped tern
The black-naped tern (''Sterna sumatrana'') is an oceanic tern mostly found in tropical and subtropical areas of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is rarely found inland.
Description
The tern is about 30 cm long with a wing length of 21 ...
, and the migrant
wedge-tailed shearwater
The wedge-tailed shearwater (''Ardenna pacifica'') is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It is one of the shearwater species that is sometimes referred to as a muttonbird, like the sooty shearwater of New Zealand and ...
,
red-tailed tropicbird,
red-footed booby,
brown booby,
great frigatebird,
golden plover
'' Pluvialis '' is a genus of plovers, a group of wading birds comprising four species that breed in the temperate or Arctic Northern Hemisphere.
In breeding plumage, they all have largely black underparts, and golden or silvery upperparts. The ...
,
bristle-thighed curlew
The bristle-thighed curlew (''Numenius tahitiensis'') is a medium-sized shorebird that breeds in Alaska and winters on tropical Pacific islands.
It is known in Mangareva as ''kivi'' or ''kivikivi'' and in Rakahanga as ''kihi''; it is said to be ...
,
wandering tattler
The wandering tattler (''Tringa incana''; formerly ''Heteroscelus incanus'': Pereira & Baker, 2005; Banks ''et al.'', 2006), is a medium-sized wading bird. It is similar in appearance to the closely related gray-tailed tattler, ''T. brevipes''. ...
, and
ruddy turnstone
The ruddy turnstone (''Arenaria interpres'') is a small cosmopolitan wading bird, one of two species of turnstone in the genus ''Arenaria''.
It is now classified in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae but was formerly sometimes placed in the plov ...
.
History
Prehistory
Although humans migrated to the Marshall Islands about 2000 years ago, there appear to be no traditional Marshallese artifacts present that would indicate any long-term settlement. The lack of potable water and tiny lot of arable land compared to nearby Utirik has discouraged settlement. The atoll is traditionally occupied for brief periods for seasonal harvesting of copra, fish, turtles, coconut crabs, and other resources. Along with the other uninhabited northern Ratak atolls of Bikar and Bokak, Toke was traditionally the hereditary property of the Ratak atoll chain
Iroji Lablab. The exploitation of resources was regulated by custom, and overseen by the Iroji.
16th century
The first sighting recorded by Europeans of Toke Atoll was by the Spanish navigator
Álvaro de Saavedra on 29 December 1527 commanding the
carrack ''Florida'', and sailing from
Zihuatanejo
Zihuatanejo (), or Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, is the fourth-largest city in the Mexican state of Guerrero. It was known by 18th century English mariners as Chequetan or Seguataneo. Politically the city belongs to the municipality of Zihuatanejo de Azue ...
in
New Spain. Together with
Utirik
Utirik Atoll or Utrik Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 10 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only , but it encloses a lagoon with an area ...
,
Rongelap
Rongelap Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 61 islands (or motus) in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is . It encloses a lagoon with an area of . ...
and
Ailinginae atolls they were charted as ''Islas de los Reyes'' (Islands of the Three Wise Kings in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
) due to the proximity of
Epiphany
Epiphany may refer to:
* Epiphany (feeling), an experience of sudden and striking insight
Religion
* Epiphany (holiday), a Christian holiday celebrating the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ
** Epiphany season, or Epiph ...
.
19th century
A number of Western ships recorded landfall on or passage by Toke during the 1800s, but no attempt at settlement or establishment of food animals was noted, likely due to the convenience of the settlement on nearby Utirik.
The Russian brig ''Rurik'', Captain
Otto von Kotzebue
Otto von Kotzebue (russian: О́тто Евста́фьевич Коцебу́, tr. ; – ) was a Russian officer and navigator in the Imperial Russian Navy. He was born in Reval. He was known for his explorations of Oceania.
Early life ...
, visited in the summer, 1817 during a search for a north passage between western
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
and its North American territories.
20th century to present
The Marshall Islands were added to the protectorate 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 , ...
in 1906. Using the justification that uninhabited atolls were unclaimed, the Germans seized Toke as government property, despite the protests of the Iroji.
[ Atoll Research Bulletin No. 11]
In 1914, 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 ...
occupied the Marshall Islands, and transferred German government properties to their own, including Toke. Like the Germans before them, the Japanese colonial administration (the
South Seas Mandate) did not attempt to exploit the atoll, and the Northern Radak Marshallese continued to hunt and fish unmolested.
Following the end of World War II, it came under the control of the United States 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 ...
While en route from the US to Asia in April 1953, LST 1138, later commissioned as , dropped anchor at Toke to search for rumored
Japanese WWII-era stragglers. The landing party found no signs of any current occupants.
Toke Atoll was within the
fallout
Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...
zone of the
Castle Bravo
Castle Bravo was the first in a series of high-yield thermonuclear weapon design tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, as part of '' Operation Castle''. Detonated on March 1, 1954, the device was the most powerful ...
nuclear test. The degree of contamination in
coconuts and
coconut crab
The coconut crab (''Birgus latro'') is a species of terrestrial hermit crab, also known as the robber crab or palm thief. It is the largest terrestrial arthropod in the world, with a weight of up to . It can grow to up to in width from the tip ...
s is unknown, but levels are monitored on nearby Utirik.
A 1981 study of fish and invertebrates within the lagoon found that the level of radio-nucleotides in muscle tissue was within the range found in fish products imported to the US and Japanese markets. The worldwide source of seafood-borne radio-nucleotides is a result of atmospheric nuclear testing since 1945, and therefore any residual activity from the 1950s
Castle series of tests contributes only a small fraction of the contamination within the lagoon's sea life.
[ Department of Health, Safety, and Security, DOE]
See also
*
Desert island
A desert island, deserted island, or uninhabited island, is an island, islet or atoll that is not permanently populated by humans. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereot ...
*
List of islands
This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water
A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another plan ...
Footnotes
References
* Aerial photos from EG&G (1978), and War Dept. (1944).
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External links
Atoll Research Bulletin Archive Home PageVideo: Glimpses of Taka Atoll*
{{Authority control
Atolls of the Marshall Islands
Ratak Chain
Uninhabited islands of the Marshall Islands