Islands in the Pacific Ocean are of three kinds (Nunn 2005). Some are fragments of continental structures, such as New Caledonia, others are of volcanic origin, such as Easter Island, and many are coralline, such as the high limestone islands (emerged atolls) of the Loyalty Islands and the cays of Kiribati. The islands show the effects of submergence by the Holocene marine transgression, a brief phase of higher sea level in the mid-Holocene and subsequent emergence, complicated by neotectonic movements. Most of the islands lie in the SW Pacific, but the Galapagos, Clipperton, and Easter Island are volcanic islands rising from the East Pacific Ridge (Fig. 23.0.1 ).
Pacific Ocean Islands. (Courtesy Geostudies.)
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Reference
Nunn PD (2005) Pacific Ocean islands, coastal geomorphology. In: Schwartz ML (ed) Encyclopedia of Coastal Science. Springer, Dordrecht, the Netherlands, pp 754–757
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(2010). Pacific Ocean Islands – Editorial Introduction. In: Bird, E.C.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of the World's Coastal Landforms. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8639-7_245
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