Marotiri is a group of four uninhabited

volcanic A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure 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 fo ...

rocks protruding from the sea (and several submerged rocks), forming the southeastern end of the

Austral Islands The Austral Islands ( officially ''Archipel des Australes;'' ) are the southernmost group of islands in French Polynesia, an overseas country of France, overseas country of the France, French Republic in the Oceania, South Pacific. Geographicall ...

French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...

. Marotiri is also known as Bass Rocks (''Îlots de Bass'' in French), maybe according to the name of the European explorer

George Bass George Bass (; 30 January 1771 – after 5 February 1803) was a British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia. Early life Bass was born on 30 January 1771 at Aswarby, a hamlet near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of a tenant farmer, George B ...

. Marotiri is very isolated, located about west-south-westward of

Pitcairn Island Pitcairn Island is the only inhabited island of the Pitcairn Islands, in the southern Pacific Ocean, of which many inhabitants are descendants of mutineers of HMS ''Bounty''. Geography The island is of volcanic origin, with a rugged cliff ...

. The closest island is

Rapa Iti Rapa, also called Rapa Iti, or "Little Rapa", to distinguish it from Easter Island, whose Polynesian name is Rapa Nui, is the largest and only inhabited island of the Bass Islands in French Polynesia. An older name for the island is Oparo. Th ...

, 75 km farther northwest, but separated from it by an ocean depth of more than 1,500 meters.According to the French

hydrographic office A hydrographic office is an organization which is devoted to acquiring and publishing hydrographic information. Historically, the main tasks of hydrographic offices were the conduction of hydrographic surveys and the publication of nautical ch ...

(

SHOM The Naval Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service ( or SHOM) is a French public establishment of an administrative nature () administered by the Ministry of Armed Forces. It is the successor to the Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine, founded ...

)

nautical chart A nautical chart or hydrographic chart is a graphic representation of a sea region or water body and adjacent coasts or river bank, banks. Depending on the scale (map), scale of the chart, it may show depths of water (bathymetry) and heights of ...

s 6607, there is a depth of 1,646 meters midway between Rapa and Marotiri. The rocks are part of the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of Rapa. The climate is wet temperate. The lower rocks are almost devoid of vegetation - although there is some vegetation on the upper slopes and summits. They are important as a seabird rookery. Fish abound in the adjacent waters. The rocks emerge from a submarine platform 100 meters deep and 5 km in diameter. They lie at a distance between 1.5 and 3 km from one another. The total land area is 43,100 m², which is broken down as follows by the individual rocks: The southern rock is the largest, with a height of 113 meters at its highest point.

References

Islands of the Austral Islands Volcanic plugs of Oceania Uninhabited islands of French Polynesia {{FrenchPolynesia-geo-stub

See also

References