Grande Terre
- ISS006-E-25215
- 10 February 2003
- 22:26 UTC
New Caledonia's main island of Grande Terre consists of a narrow and lengthy island of 390 km by 50 km orientated northwest to southeast. The island is composed of a mountainous central spine that runs the entire length of the island, rising to 1,628 m at Mt. Panié in the north. Terrain on the eastern side of the mountains is characterized by steep slopes with that of the west by hilly coasts, lowland plains and wide bays. Off shore, situated on the shallow shelf that surrounds the island and continuing the northwest-southeast trend, are numerous smaller islands including the Îles des Pins (152 km²) and Île Ouen (38 km²) in the southeast and southwest respectively, and in the northwest the islands of Yande, Balabio (33 km²), Baaba and the Îles Belep (67 km²).
The entire island (including the offshore islands mentioned above) are located with in an extensive barrier reef system — the second largest after Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The barrier reefs extends considerable distances to the southeast and northwest, beyond the ends of Grande Terre, forming an extensive lagoon that covers an area of around 24,000 km². The reefs of the northwest are particularly well-developed, extending as two huge prongs on either side of the island for 150 km beyond the northwest tip of the island, coming to an end at the Grand Passage that separates them from the Rêcifs d'Entracasteaux. In all, the barrier reefs total 1,300 km in length. The major reef formations include the Récif des Français, Grand Récif de Cook, Grand Récif de Koumac and the Grand Récif du Sud. Within the lagoon that is sheltered by these barrier reefs are found smaller fringing and platform reefs as well as dozens of small islands and coral cays.
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center.