Tikehau
- ISS006-E-8360
- 18 December 2002
- 17:03 UTC
Tikehau is a large circular-shaped atoll located in the far northwest region of the Tuamotu Archipelago, located 10 km northwest from Rangiroa and 37 km southeast from Mataiva. The atoll consists of an 80 km long outer perimeter of reefs and motu enclosing a lagoon of 395 km² in area. The formation measures 28 km by 20 km.
The reef of Tikehau is of variable width, ranging from 300 m in the northeast to 1.3 km in the southeast (leeward side). It is populated by numerous motu (around 150), which have a combined land area of 20 km² — the largest of these can be found on the southwest side of the atoll. The reef is broken by one major pass on the eastern side — the Passe de Tuheiava — that is around 300 m wide. The southeastern side of the atoll has numerous hoa — small channels or 'spillways' — that water flows across as the tides rise and fall, accounting for the large volumes of water that flow in to and out of the lagoon.
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center