Mehetia

Coordinates: 17°52′S 148°04′W / 17.867°S 148.067°W / -17.867; -148.067
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Mehetia
Commune
Taiarapu-Est
Demographics
Populationuninhabited
Mont Fareura
NASA Geocover 2000 image
Highest point
Elevation435 m (1,427 ft)
Prominence435 m (1,427 ft)
Coordinates17°52′S 148°4′W / 17.867°S 148.067°W / -17.867; -148.067
Geography
LocationSociety Islands
Geology
Mountain typeStratovolcano
Last eruptionUnknown

Meheti'a or Me'eti'a is a volcanic island in the Windward Islands, in the east of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is a very young active stratovolcano 110 kilometres (68 mi) east of the Taiarapu Peninsula of Tahiti. It belongs to the Teahiti'a-Mehetia hotspot.[1]

The island has an area of 2.3 square kilometres (0.89 sq mi) and its highest point is 435 metres (1,427 ft). The peak is a well-defined volcanic crater. In 1981 the island was the centre of earthquakes.[2][3]

History

Tahitian oral tradition holds that navigators stopped at Mehiti'a, which was regarded as sacred, on their long voyage to New Zealand.[4] This oral history correlates with geological evidence found in southern New Zealand which can be traced back to Mehiti'a.[5]

The early Polynesian voyagers commonly gave Polynesian ancestral names and symbolism to new places.[6] The high point of Mehetia is Mount Hiurai (Hi’ura’i/Hikurangi)[7] The name Hikurangi in Aotearoa / New Zealand probably came from Mehetia[8] and the name Hi’ura’i probably has its origin in Si'ulagi (Si'ulangi) in Ta'u, Samoa.[9]

The first European sighting was by the Spanish expedition of

Domingo de Boenechea on November 6, 1772, on ship Aguila.[11]
: 241  He named this island San Cristóbal.

Administration

Meheti'a is administratively part of the

commune associée
Tautira. The island is uninhabited and does not have much vegetation but has a small coral reef on the underwater slopes.

See also

References

  1. S2CID 129178596
    .
  2. doi:10.1016/0377-0273(93)90040-X
    .
  3. doi:10.1029/JB089iB13p11216
    . Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Scoria blocks reinforces early Polynesian links to Southland". The Southland Times. Stuff. 3 April 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  5. ISSN 1170-0777
    . Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  6. ^ "Ancestral Naming of Places",
  7. ^ "Mount Hiurai (Hi’ura’i/Hikurangi)"
  8. ^ "Mount Hiurai (Hi’ura’i/Hikurangi)"
  9. ^ "Si'ulagi(Si'ulangi)in Ta'u"
  10. ^ Corney, Bolton Granvill The quest and occupation of Tahiti by emissaries of Spain during the years 1772-1776, London, 1913, Vol I, p.XXX
  11. ^
    ISBN 9780520261143
    .

External links

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