Toke Atoll
Encyclopedia
Toke Atoll or Taka Atoll (Marshallese
: , t) is a small, uninhabited coral atoll in the Ratak Chain
of the Marshall Islands
. It is one of the smaller atolls in the Marshalls and located at 11°17′N 169°37′E. It is visited regularly by the residents of nearby Utirik Atoll
.
Atoll, the capital of the Marshall Islands, and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) southwest of Utirik Atoll
. It comprises six islands with a combined land area of 0.22 square mile (0.5697973842 km²) and a lagoon area of 35.96 square miles (93.1 km²).
. Among its islets, only Toke, Eluk, and Lojrong are large enough to support permanent vegetation. The other sand islets have shown considerable shifting in size and location over the years. Ground water sampled from the midsection of Toke islet is brackish, with chloride levels of 440 to 840 ppm (compared to 19400 ppm for sea water) With a moderately shallow lagoon and single, deep, narrow western passage through the reef, Toke and its neighbor Utirik are an intermediate atoll type between the shallow, perched lagoons of Bokak
and Bikar, and the deep lagoons and many reef passages of the central Marshall atolls.
Based on the results of drilling operations on Enewetak
(Eniwetok) Atoll, in the nearby Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands, Toke may include as much as 4600 feet (1,402.1 m) of reef material atop a basalt
rock base. As most local coral growth stops at about 150 feet (45.7 m) below the ocean surface, such a massive stony coral base suggests a gradual isostatic subsidence of the underlying extinct volcano, which itself rises 10000 feet (3,048 m) from the surrounding ocean floor. Shallow water fossils taken from just above Enewetak's basalt base are dated to about 55 mya.
Soils are ultimately based on storm-driven ridges of coral rubble, standing 2 to 4 ft (0.6096 to 1.2 ) high. Away from the shorelines, soils are primarily sandy. A thick layer of humus with a phosphate hardpan lies under the Pisonia forests.
with a thick Embossed fern
ground cover. There is a small grove of Pisonia grandis
, while the rest of the islet is covered with brushy woods of Tournefortia
, Yellow Purslane
, and Pandanus
, fringed by Lepturus repens grasses, Fleurya ruderalis shrubs, Boerhavia
, and other typical Marshallese species. There is also a tiny grove of Pisonia on Lojiron.
Nineteen bird species are presently known on Toke Atoll. These include the Reef Heron, the migratory Pectoral Sandpiper
and accidental examples of the Spotted Sandpiper
and Skua
, for which Toke is their only sighting in Marshall Islands. Others include the resident Crested Tern, Sooty Tern
, Brown Noddy
, Black Noddy
, White Tern
, Black-naped Tern
, and the migrant Wedge-tailed Shearwater
, Red-tailed Tropicbird
, Red-footed Booby
, Brown Booby
, Great Frigatebird
, Golden Plover
, Bristle-thighed Curlew
, Wandering Tattler
, and Ruddy Turnstone
.
. The exploitation of resources was regulated by custom, and overseen by the Iroji.
The Russian brig Rurik, Captain Otto von Kotzebue
, visited in the summer, 1817 during a search for a north passage between western Russia and its North American territories.
in 1906. Using the justification that uninhabited atolls were unclaimed, the Germans seized Toke as government property, despite the protests of the Iroji.
In 1914, the Empire of Japan
occupied the Marshall Islands, and transferred German government properties to their own, including Toke. Like the Germans before them, the Japanese colonial administration (the South Pacific Mandate
) did not attempt to exploit the atoll, and the Northern Radak Marshallese continued to hunt and fish unmolested. Following the end of World War II
, it came under the control of the United States
as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
While en route from the US to Asia in April 1953, LST 1138, later commissioned as USS Steuben County, dropped anchor at Toke to search for rumored Japanese WWII-era stragglers
. The landing party found no signs of any current occupants.
Toke Atoll was within the fallout zone of the Castle Bravo
nuclear test. The degree of contamination in coconut
s and coconut crab
s is unknown, but levels are monitored on nearby Utirik.
A 1981 study of fish and invertebrates within the lagoon found that the level of radio-nucleotides in muscle tissue was within the range found in fish products imported to the US and Japanese markets. The worldwide source of seafood-borne radio-nucleotides is a result of atmospheric nuclear testing since 1945, and therefore any residual activity from the 1950s Castle series of tests
contributes only a small fraction of the contamination within the lagoon's sea life.
Marshallese language
The Marshallese language is a Malayo-Polynesian language of the Marshall Islands, and the principal language of the country...
: , t) is a small, uninhabited coral atoll in the Ratak Chain
Ratak Chain
The Ratak Chain is a chain of islands within the island nation of the Marshall Islands. Ratak means "sunrise". It lies just to the east of the country's other main island chain, the Ralik Chain...
of the Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
. It is one of the smaller atolls in the Marshalls and located at 11°17′N 169°37′E. It is visited regularly by the residents of nearby Utirik Atoll
Utirik Atoll
Utirik Atoll or Utrik Atoll is a coral atoll of 10 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only , but it encloses a lagoon with an area of...
.
Geography
The atoll is 100 miles (160.9 km) north of MajuroMajuro
Majuro , is a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. The atoll itself has a land area of and encloses a lagoon of...
Atoll, the capital of the Marshall Islands, and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) southwest of Utirik Atoll
Utirik Atoll
Utirik Atoll or Utrik Atoll is a coral atoll of 10 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only , but it encloses a lagoon with an area of...
. It comprises six islands with a combined land area of 0.22 square mile (0.5697973842 km²) and a lagoon area of 35.96 square miles (93.1 km²).
Physical features
The atoll is roughly triangular in shape, its length and width approximately 9 miles. The highest point is 15 feet. The small land area is the second smallest in the Marshalls, besting only BikarBikar Atoll
Bikar Atoll is an uninhabited atoll in the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. It is one of the smallest atolls in the Marshalls and located at...
. Among its islets, only Toke, Eluk, and Lojrong are large enough to support permanent vegetation. The other sand islets have shown considerable shifting in size and location over the years. Ground water sampled from the midsection of Toke islet is brackish, with chloride levels of 440 to 840 ppm (compared to 19400 ppm for sea water) With a moderately shallow lagoon and single, deep, narrow western passage through the reef, Toke and its neighbor Utirik are an intermediate atoll type between the shallow, perched lagoons of Bokak
Bokak Atoll
Bokak Atoll or Taongi Atoll is an uninhabited coral atoll in the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands, located in the North Pacific Ocean at...
and Bikar, and the deep lagoons and many reef passages of the central Marshall atolls.
Based on the results of drilling operations on Enewetak
Enewetak
Enewetak Atoll is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its land area totals less than , surrounding a deep central lagoon, in circumference...
(Eniwetok) Atoll, in the nearby Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands, Toke may include as much as 4600 feet (1,402.1 m) of reef material atop a basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
rock base. As most local coral growth stops at about 150 feet (45.7 m) below the ocean surface, such a massive stony coral base suggests a gradual isostatic subsidence of the underlying extinct volcano, which itself rises 10000 feet (3,048 m) from the surrounding ocean floor. Shallow water fossils taken from just above Enewetak's basalt base are dated to about 55 mya.
Soils are ultimately based on storm-driven ridges of coral rubble, standing 2 to 4 ft (0.6096 to 1.2 ) high. Away from the shorelines, soils are primarily sandy. A thick layer of humus with a phosphate hardpan lies under the Pisonia forests.
Climate
Toke is moderately dry, with annual precipitation in the range of 60–70 in (152.4–177.8 ). Air temperature is usually near 82 °F (27.8 °C). The prevailing trade winds are from the northeast. Rainfall in the Marshalls is primarily influenced by the equatorial front, which expands seasonally to 11 degrees north. To the north of that zone, rainfall quickly falls off. A quarter degree further north of Toke, annual rainfall at Enewetak Atoll is 49 inches (124.5 cm) per year.Vegetation
Facing the lagoon shore, about a quarter of Toke islet is planted in coconutsCOcOnuts
COcOnuts is the second album released by Jane, comprising Animal Collective member Panda Bear, and Scott Mou. It was originally self-released on CD-R's, but later became the first album released by Psych-o-path Records in 2005. The Psych-o-path version was remastered by Rusty Santos and Edik Kleyner....
with a thick Embossed fern
Microsorum
Microsorum is a genus of over fifty species of tropical ferns. Like most ferns, they grow from rhizomes, rather than roots. The genus name is often mis-spelled "Microsorium" or "Microsoreum". It includes some species that are lithophytic rheophytes....
ground cover. There is a small grove of Pisonia grandis
Pisonia grandis
Pisonia grandis is a species of flowering tree in the Bougainvillea family, Nyctaginaceae.-Description:The tree has broad, thin leaves, smooth bark and bears clusters of green sweet-smelling flowers that mature into sticky barbed seeds....
, while the rest of the islet is covered with brushy woods of Tournefortia
Tournefortia
Tournefortia, commonly known as Soldierbush, is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae.It was first published under the name Pittonia by Charles Plumier in 1703, in honour of Joseph Pitton de Tournefort...
, Yellow Purslane
Portulaca
Portulaca is the type genus of the flowering plant family Portulacaceae, comprising about 40-100 species found in the tropics and warm temperate regions. They are also sometimes known as Rose Moss or more commonly Moss Roses....
, and Pandanus
Pandanus tectorius
Pandanus tectorius is a species of Pandanus that is native to Malesia, eastern Australia, and the Pacific Islands. Common names include Thatch Screwpine, Hala , Bacua , and Vacquois ....
, fringed by Lepturus repens grasses, Fleurya ruderalis shrubs, Boerhavia
Boerhavia
Boerhavia, the spiderlings, is a genus of about 40 species of annual or perennial herbaceous plants in the four o'clock flower family, Nyctaginaceae. The common name refers to the appearance of a spider or spider's web given by the numerous long, slender and interlocking stems of the inflorescences...
, and other typical Marshallese species. There is also a tiny grove of Pisonia on Lojiron.
Fauna
Toke supports a healthy coral reef, with over 93 coral types identified. Evidence of green sea turtle nesting has been found on the three largest islets, and hawksbill sea turtles have been seen along the outer reef. The lagoon is home to the rare giant clam Tridacna gigas, as well as smaller giant clam varieties. The number of specimens is lower than that seen at Bokak and Bikar, perhaps because of poaching by foreign fishermen.Nineteen bird species are presently known on Toke Atoll. These include the Reef Heron, the migratory Pectoral Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
The Pectoral Sandpiper, Calidris melanotos, is a small wader. It is sometimes separated with the "stint" sandpipers in Erolia. This may or may not represent a good monophyletic group, depending on the placement of the phylogenetically enigmatic Curlew Sandpiper , the type species of Erolia...
and accidental examples of the Spotted Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
The Spotted Sandpiper is a small shorebird, 18–20 cm long. Together with its sister species, the Common Sandpiper they make up the genus Actitis...
and Skua
Skua
The skuas are a group of seabirds with about seven species forming the family Stercorariidae and the genus Stercorarius. The three smaller skuas are called jaegers in North America....
, for which Toke is their only sighting in Marshall Islands. Others include the resident Crested Tern, Sooty Tern
Sooty Tern
The Sooty Tern, Onychoprion fuscatus , is a seabird of the tern family . It is a bird of the tropical oceans, breeding on islands throughout the equatorial zone. Colloquially, it is known as the Wideawake Tern or just wideawake...
, Brown Noddy
Brown Noddy
The Brown Noddy or Common Noddy is a seabird from the tern family. The largest of the noddies, it can be told from the closely related Black Noddy by its larger size and plumage, which is dark brown rather than black...
, Black Noddy
Black Noddy
The Black Noddy or White-capped Noddy is a seabird from the tern family. It resembles the closely related Brown or Common Noddy , but is smaller with darker plumage, a whiter cap, a longer, straighter beak and shorter tail...
, White Tern
White Tern
The White Tern is a small seabird found across the tropical oceans of the world. It is sometimes known as the Fairy Tern although this name is potentially confusing as it is the common name of the Fairy Tern Sternula nereis...
, Black-naped Tern
Black-naped Tern
The Black-naped Tern is an oceanic tern mostly found in tropical and subtropical areas of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is rarely found inland....
, and the migrant Wedge-tailed Shearwater
Wedge-tailed Shearwater
The Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Puffinus pacificus is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It is one of the shearwater species that is sometimes referred to as a Muttonbird, like the Sooty Shearwater of New Zealand and the Short-tailed Shearwater of Australia...
, Red-tailed Tropicbird
Red-tailed Tropicbird
The Red-tailed Tropicbird, Phaethon rubricauda, is a seabird that nests across the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the rarest of the tropicbirds, yet is still a widespread bird that is not considered threatened. It nests in colonies on oceanic islands....
, Red-footed Booby
Red-footed Booby
The Red-footed Booby, Sula sula, is a large seabird of the booby family, Sulidae. As suggested by the name, adults always have red feet, but the colour of the plumage varies. They are powerful and agile fliers, but they are clumsy in takeoffs and landings...
, Brown Booby
Brown Booby
The Brown Booby is a large seabird of the booby family, Sulidae. The adult brown booby reaches about in length. Its head and upper body are covered in dark brown, with the remainder being a contrasting white. The juvenile form is gray-brown with darkening on the head, wings and tail...
, Great Frigatebird
Great Frigatebird
The Great Frigatebird is a large dispersive seabird in the frigatebird family. Major nesting populations are found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as a population in the South Atlantic....
, Golden Plover
Golden Plover
There are three species of wading birds in the plover family called Golden Plover. They are* Eurasian Golden Plover, Pluvialis apricaria* Pacific Golden Plover, Pluvialis fulva* American Golden Plover, Pluvialis dominica...
, Bristle-thighed Curlew
Bristle-thighed Curlew
The Bristle-thighed Curlew, Numenius tahitiensis, is a large shorebird that breeds in Alaska and winters on tropical Pacific islands. It has a long, decurved bill and bristled feathers at the base of the legs. Its length is about 43 cm and wingspan about 84 cm...
, Wandering Tattler
Wandering Tattler
The Wandering Tattler, Tringa incana , is a medium-sized wading bird. It is similar in appearance to the closely related Gray-tailed Tattler, T. brevipes...
, and Ruddy Turnstone
Ruddy Turnstone
The Ruddy Turnstone is a small wading bird, one of two species of turnstone in the genus Arenaria. It is now classified in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae but was formerly sometimes placed in the plover family Charadriidae...
.
Prehistory
Although humans migrated to the Marshall Islands about 2000 years ago, there appear to be no traditional Marshallese artifacts present that would indicate any long-term settlement. The lack of potable water and tiny lot of arable land compared to nearby Utirik has discouraged settlement. The atoll is traditionally occupied for brief periods for seasonal harvesting of copra, fish, turtles, coconut crabs, and other resources. Along with the other uninhabited northern Ratak atolls of Bikar and Bokak, Toke was traditionally the hereditary property of the Ratak atoll chain Iroji LablabIroijlaplap
Iroijlaplap is the title given to the paramount chiefs in the Marshall Islands. An ordinary chief holds the title of Iroij ....
. The exploitation of resources was regulated by custom, and overseen by the Iroji.
19th century
A number of Western ships recorded landfall on or passage by Toke during the 1800s, but no attempt at settlement or establishment of food animals was noted, likely due to the convenience of the settlement on nearby Utirik.The Russian brig Rurik, Captain Otto von Kotzebue
Otto von Kotzebue
Otto von Kotzebue was a Baltic German navigator in Russian service....
, visited in the summer, 1817 during a search for a north passage between western Russia and its North American territories.
20th century to present
The Marshall Islands were added to the protectorate of German New GuineaGerman New Guinea
German New Guinea was the first part of the German colonial empire. It was a protectorate from 1884 until 1914 when it fell to Australia following the outbreak of the First World War. It consisted of the northeastern part of New Guinea and several nearby island groups...
in 1906. Using the justification that uninhabited atolls were unclaimed, the Germans seized Toke as government property, despite the protests of the Iroji.
In 1914, the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
occupied the Marshall Islands, and transferred German government properties to their own, including Toke. Like the Germans before them, the Japanese colonial administration (the South Pacific Mandate
South Pacific Mandate
The was the Japanese League of Nations mandate consisting of several groups of islands in the Pacific Ocean which came under the administration of Japan after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I.-Early history:Under the terms of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, after the start of World...
) did not attempt to exploit the atoll, and the Northern Radak Marshallese continued to hunt and fish unmolested. Following the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, it came under the control of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1986.-History:...
While en route from the US to Asia in April 1953, LST 1138, later commissioned as USS Steuben County, dropped anchor at Toke to search for rumored Japanese WWII-era stragglers
Japanese holdout
Japanese holdouts or stragglers were Japanese soldiers in the Pacific Theatre who, after the August 1945 surrender of Japan that marked the end of World War II, either adamantly doubted the veracity of the formal surrender due to strong dogmatic or militaristic principles, or were not aware of it...
. The landing party found no signs of any current occupants.
Castle Bravo
Castle Bravo was the code name given to the first U.S. test of a dry fuel thermonuclear hydrogen bomb device, detonated on March 1, 1954 at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, as the first test of Operation Castle. Castle Bravo was the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated by the United States ,...
nuclear test. The degree of contamination in coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
s and coconut crab
Coconut crab
The coconut crab, Birgus latro, is a species of terrestrial hermit crab, also known as the robber crab or palm thief. It is the largest land-living arthropod in the world, and is probably at the upper size limit of terrestrial animals with exoskeletons in today's atmosphere at a weight of up to...
s is unknown, but levels are monitored on nearby Utirik.
A 1981 study of fish and invertebrates within the lagoon found that the level of radio-nucleotides in muscle tissue was within the range found in fish products imported to the US and Japanese markets. The worldwide source of seafood-borne radio-nucleotides is a result of atmospheric nuclear testing since 1945, and therefore any residual activity from the 1950s Castle series of tests
Operation Castle
Operation Castle was a United States series of high-energy nuclear tests by Joint Task Force SEVEN at Bikini Atoll beginning in March 1954...
contributes only a small fraction of the contamination within the lagoon's sea life.
External links
- Atoll Research Bulletin Archive Home Page
- U.S. Dept. of Energy OPENnet advanced search page, (search full text field on string "Taka Atoll").
- Plants in the Marshall Islands, A Photo Essay
- Entry at Oceandots.com