Palmyra Atoll, United States Minor Outlying Islandsi

Regional Level Types
Palmyra Atoll	Atoll
United States Minor Outlying Islands	Unincorporated and Unorganized Territory

Palmyra Atoll, also known as Palmyra Island, is one of the Northern Line Islands (southeast of Kingman Reef and north of Kiribati) and one of three American islands in the archipelago, along with Jarvis Island and Kingman Reef. The atoll is 12 km² and its 14 km of coastline has one anchorage known as West Lagoon.

Palmyra Atoll is part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, the world's largest marine protected area. The atoll is composed of submerged sand flats along with dry land and reefs. It consists of three lagoons separated by coral reefs. Over 150 species of coral inhabit Palmyra Atoll.

A recent study on samples of young fossil coral showed that each sample has potentially experienced both submarine and subaerial diagenesis. The relative durations of the submarine and subaerial phases are unknown – a coral colony could have spent an appreciable amount of time underwater after its death before being thrown onto a beach, or it could have been deposited on a beach while still alive. Submarine diagenesis is commonly characterized by the precipitation of abiogenic secondary aragonite and high-magnesium calcite cements. Subaerial diagenesis is typically marked by dissolution of the primary coral aragonite skeleton, often with concomitant reprecipitation of secondary calcite.

Fossils

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References