Gardner Pinnacles
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The Gardner Pinnacles ( haw, Pūhāhonu) are two barren
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
outcrops surrounded by a reef and located in the
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or Leeward Hawaiian Islands are a series of islands and atolls in the Hawaiian island chain located northwest (in some cases, far to the northwest) of the islands of Kauai and Niihau. Politically, they are all p ...
at . The volcano is northwest of
Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
and from
French Frigate Shoals The French Frigate Shoals ( Hawaiian: Kānemilohai) is the largest atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Its name commemorates French explorer Jean-François de La Pérouse, who nearly lost two frigates when attempting to navigate the ...
. The total area of the two small islets— remnants of an ancient volcano that is the world's
largest Large means of great size. Large may also refer to: Mathematics * Arbitrarily large, a phrase in mathematics * Large cardinal, a property of certain transfinite numbers * Large category, a category with a proper class of objects and morphisms (o ...
shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more v ...
—is . The highest peak is . The surrounding reef has an area in excess of .Gardner Pinnacles - Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge
U.S Fish and Wildlife Service. December 14, 2016
The Gardner Pinnacles were discovered and named in 1820 by the
whaling ship A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...
''Maro''. The island may be the last remnant of one of the largest volcanoes on Earth.


History

The Gardner Pinnacles were first discovered on June 2, 1820, by the American
whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...
''Maro,'' commanded by Captain Joseph Allen. In 1859, the position of the Gardner Pinnacles was determined by the survey schooner USS ''Fenimore Cooper''. The Gardner Pinnacles are home to the Giant Opihi ('' Cellana talcosa''), Hawaiian Limpet known as the ‘opihi ko‘ele, which is not found anywhere else in the world outside the Hawaiian Islands. Numerous insects live on the island. In 1903 the Gardner Pinnacles became a part of the Hawaiian Islands Bird Reservation. In 1940 it became a part of the Hawaiian Island's National Wildlife Refuge. In the 21 century it is part of
Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM) (roughly ) is a World Heritage Site, World Heritage listed National Monument (United States), U.S. National Monument encompassing of ocean waters, including ten islands and atolls of th ...
wildlife refuge. The Gardner Pinnacles were used as an emergency helicopter landing spot for the Hawaiian HIRAN project, an effort to determine the locations of area islands with great precision for navigational purposes. In the Hawaiian Archipelago, adjacent islands/reefs are
French Frigate Shoals The French Frigate Shoals ( Hawaiian: Kānemilohai) is the largest atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Its name commemorates French explorer Jean-François de La Pérouse, who nearly lost two frigates when attempting to navigate the ...
to the southeast, and
Maro Reef Maro Reef ( Hawaiian: Nalukākala - "surf that arrives in combers") is a largely submerged coral atoll located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It was discovered in 1820 by Captain Joseph Allen of the ship '' Maro'', after whose ship the ...
to the northwest.


Geology

The island is made up of basalt rock, which comes from lava. The rock is dark grey and dense. According to a 2020 report in
Earth and Planetary Science Letters ''Earth and Planetary Science Letters'' (EPSL) is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research on physical, chemical and mechanical processes of the Earth and other planets, including extrasolar ones. Topics covered range from dee ...
, Pūhāhonu contains approximately 150,000 cubic kilometers of rock, based on a 2014 sonar survey. This would make it Earth's largest single volcano. Only about one-third of that volume is exposed above the sea floor while the rest is buried beneath a ring of debris, broken coral, and other material that has eroded from the peak. By comparison, from sea floor to peak,
Mauna Kea Mauna Kea ( or ; ; abbreviation for ''Mauna a Wākea''); is a dormant volcano on the island of Hawaii. Its peak is above sea level, making it the highest point in the state of Hawaii and second-highest peak of an island on Earth. The peak is ...
, on Hawaii's Big Island, is the tallest
shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more v ...
on Earth, but it is nowhere near as massive as Pūhāhonu. Another volcano on the Big Island is
Mauna Loa Mauna Loa ( or ; Hawaiian: ; en, Long Mountain) is one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The largest subaerial volcano (as opposed to subaqueous volcanoes) in both mass and ...
, a 2013 study estimates Mauna Loa's volume at 83,000 cubic kilometers. Pūhāhonu is so heavy, researchers note, that it has caused Earth's crust nearby—and thus the volcano itself—to sink hundreds of meters over millions of years. The Puhahonu volcano (Gardner) would be twice as big as Mauna Loa's based on that research.


Ecology

The island has one plant known to grow on it, the succulent sea purslane. However, there are over a dozen species of bird observed here, many nesting. There is also a variety of insect species on the island. In the surrounding waters there is variety of sealife, which is noted as habitat for a limpet, the giant ophi which lives in tidal areas of the rocky island. There are many species of fish and coral life in the nearby waters. The large numbers of birds have coated many surfaces of the island in
guano Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...
, giving it a whitish appearance. Some of the fish species in the nearby waters include
red lip parrotfish Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
, doublebar goatfish, and
reef triggerfish The reef triggerfish (''Rhinecanthus rectangulus''), also known as the rectangular triggerfish, wedgetail triggerfish or by its Hawaiian name humuhumunukunukuāpuaa (, meaning 'triggerfish with a snout like a pig', also spelled humuhumunukunuku ...
.


Name

The name Gardner comes from its discovery in 1820, when the Captain Joseph Allen of the ship ''Maro'' named it Gardner's Island. They also discovered
Maro Reef Maro Reef ( Hawaiian: Nalukākala - "surf that arrives in combers") is a largely submerged coral atoll located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It was discovered in 1820 by Captain Joseph Allen of the ship '' Maro'', after whose ship the ...
, which is named for that sailing ship. It has sometimes been called Gardner Rock or Gardner Island, besides the Gardner Pinnacles. The Hawaiian name, ''Pūhāhonu'', means 'turtle surfacing for air', from ''pūhā'' 'to breathe at the surface' and ''honu'' 'turtle'.


See also

*
List of volcanoes in the Hawaiian – Emperor seamount chain A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
*
Nikumaroro Nikumaroro, previously known as Kemins Island or Gardner Island, is a part of the Phoenix Islands, Kiribati, in the western Pacific Ocean. It is a remote, elongated, triangular coral atoll with profuse vegetation and a large central marine lagoo ...
(aka Gardner Island)


Notes


References


External links


Gardner Pinnacles
Islands of the Hawaiian Chain

~
Bishop Museum The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1889, it is the lar ...

Quick Facts on the Gardner Pinnacles
– from the
PBS Ocean Adventures The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...

Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument Information Management System
{{authority control Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain Rock formations of Hawaii Miocene volcanoes Paleogene Oceania Cenozoic Hawaii Stacks of the United States Important Bird Areas of Hawaii