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Kure Atoll: Maps and Imagery
Kure
Atoll map:
View a full-resolution version (192 KB).
Kure Atoll IKONOS image:
View the 13m-resolution version (302 KB).
View the 8m-resolution version (561 KB).
Kure
Atoll bathymetry image:
View the 13m-resolution version (251 KB) with depth scale.
Download the 4-meter resolution geotiff (1,834 KB zip file). See the Digital number (DN) to Classification matchup for NWHI bathymetry files.
See the legend PDF to view the colorbars for the depth scales and the legends for habitat cover and detailed class.
Image of Kure Atoll habitat cover:
View the 13m-resolution version (349 KB) with legend.
download the 4-meter resolution geotiff (406 KB zip file). See the Digital number (DN) to Classification matchup for NWHI habitat cover files.
See the legend PDF to view the colorbars for the depth scales and the legends for habitat cover and detailed class.
Kure Atoll detailed habitat image:
view the 13m-resolution version (351 KB) with legend.
Download the 4-meter resolution geotiff (464 KB zip file). See the Digital number (DN) to Classification matchup for NWHI detailed classification files.
See the legend PDF to view the colorbars for the depth scales and the legends for habitat cover and detailed class.
Kure Atoll: Shapefiles
Click on the links below to download shapefiles which correspond to the French Frigate Shoals detailed habitat class and aggregated cover imagery. Each zipped shapefile consists of 6 separate files, with the same root name and .dbf, .prj, .sbn, .sbx, .shp, and .shx extensions.
Kure
Atoll: Detailed habitat shapefile (9 MB)
Kure
Atoll: Habitat cover shapefile (7 MB)
Click here to download a .ZIP file which contains the Arc and PCI legend files (.avl and .rst extension) for the NWHI maps. When added to your Arc or PCI project, these files will cause the vector colors to match the geotiffs.
Kure Atoll: Description and History
Kure Atoll lies about 100 km WNW of Midway at longitude 178 degrees 20 minutes W and latitude 28 degrees 25 minutes N. As with all the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Kure Atoll is all that remains of a 28 million-year-old shield volcano. The atoll is about 10 km across. Kure Atoll lies at about 28 degrees 25 min- utes north latitude. This position puts Kure Atoll farther from the equator than any other shallow-water coral reef ecosystem on the earth.
Its geographic position also puts Kure Atoll at the so-called "Darwin Point," where erosion and coral growth are essentially the same. Over thousands of years, Kure has been slowly disappearing as it subsides, sea levels rise and erosion occurs. At the same time, the shallow-water coral reef ecosystems have been slowing growing. The average growth rate of coral on Kure is approximately 0.3 mm/year. The average subsidence of the Kure volcano is approximately 0.04 mm/year. As a result, Kure Atoll is growing at a meager 0.2 mm/year (Rauzon, 2001).
Further west, the Emperor Seamounts foretell the future of Kure Atoll and all the other islands in the Hawaiian Archipelago. These seamounts lie in water too cool for coral growth. As Kure Atoll continues its slow migration WNW atop the Pacific Plate, it too will eventually slip below the Pacific Ocean. However, because the Pacific Plate is moving at a leisurely 9 cm/year, Kure Atoll - and all the other Hawaiian Islands - will not disappear for some time.
Kure Atoll currently is managed by the Hawai'i Department of Land and Natural Resources as a state wildlife refuge. Kure Atoll also is considered part of the city of Honolulu and O'ahu County, both of which are over 2,200 kilometers away. It is believed that Kure Atoll was discovered in 1825 by B. Morrell, Jr., the captain of the schooner Tartar. Numerous ships have crashed into Kure Atoll's fringing reefs. Luckily, most of the survivors of these shipwrecks were rescued.