Meheti'a or Me'eti'a is a

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

island in the

Windward Islands french: Îles du Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Windward Islands. Clockwise: Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean Sea No ...

, in the east of the

Society Islands The Society Islands (french: Îles de la Société, officially ''Archipel de la Société;'' ty, Tōtaiete mā) are an archipelago located in the South Pacific Ocean. Politically, they are part of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the ...

in French Polynesia. This island is a very young active stratovolcano east of the Taiarapu Peninsula of

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

. It belongs to the Teahiti'a-Mehetia hotspot. The island has an area of and its highest point is 435 metres (1,427 ft). The peak is a well-defined

volcanic crater A volcanic crater is an approximately circular depression in the ground caused by volcanic activity. It is typically a bowl-shaped feature containing one or more vents. During volcanic eruptions, molten magma and volcanic gases rise from an und ...

. In 1981 the island was the centre of earthquakes.

History

Tahitian oral tradition holds that navigators stopped at Mehiti'a, which was regarded as sacred, on their long voyage to New Zealand. This oral history correlates with geological evidence found in southern

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

which can be traced back to Mehiti'a. The early Polynesian voyagers commonly gave Polynesian ancestral names and symbolism to new places. The high point of Mehetia is Mount Hiurai (Hi’ura’i/Hikurangi) The name

Hikurangi Hikurangi is a settlement in Northland, New Zealand. The city of Whangārei is 17 km (11 miles) to the south, and Kawakawa is 39 km (24 miles) northwest. The Glenbervie Forest is southeast of the settlement. State Highway ...

in Aotearoa / New Zealand probably came from Mehetia and the name Hi’ura’i probably has its origin in Si'ulagi (Si'ulangi) in Ta'u, Samoa. The first European sighting was by the Spanish expedition of

Pedro Fernández de Quirós Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...

on 9 February 1606, that charted it as ''Decena'' (ten in Spanish).Corney, Bolton Granvill ''The quest and occupation of Tahiti by emissaries of Spain during the years 1772-1776'', London, 1913, Vol I, p.XXX Later on it was sighted by

Samuel Wallis Samuel Wallis (23 April 1728 – 21 January 1795 in London) was a British naval officer and explorer of the Pacific Ocean. He made the first recorded visit by a European navigator to Tahiti. Biography Wallis was born at Fenteroon Farm, n ...

in HMS Dolphin 1767 and

Louis Antoine de Bougainville Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville (, , ; 12 November 1729 – August 1811) was a French admiral and explorer. A contemporary of the British explorer James Cook, he took part in the Seven Years' War in North America and the American Revolutio ...

in 1768. It was also sighted by Spanish navigator Domingo de Boenechea on November 6, 1772, on ship ''Aguila''. He named this island ''San Cristóbal''.

Administration

Meheti'a is administratively part of the

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

(municipality) of

Taiarapu-Est Ta'iarapu-Est (literally "Tai'arapu East") is a commune of French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The commune of Tai'arapu-Est is located on the island of Tahiti, in the administrative subdivision of the Windwar ...

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.

References

External links

Mehetia in Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program database
{{FrenchPolynesia-geo-stub Volcanoes of French Polynesia Stratovolcanoes of France Active volcanoes Islands of the Society Islands Uninhabited islands of French Polynesia

History

Administration

See also

References

External links