Toau
- ISS006-E-38469
- 14 March 2003
- 20:01 UTC
Toau is a large atoll of the northwestern Tuamotu Archipelago, situated 14 km northwest from Fakarava (visible at the bottom-right of the above image) and 28 km southeast from Apataki. It is a member of the historical grouping known as the Îles Palliser.
The atoll measurers approximately 39 km in length (northwest to southeast) and is upto 20 km across; its central lagoon covers an area of 561 km². Like many of the atolls in this region, its eastern side consists of a very narrow reef rim toped with numerous motu, while the western side is composed of very broad, and largely awash, reef flats that are almost entirely devoid of any emergent land.
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center
