Bora Bora
- ISS006-E-39822
- 19 March 2003
- 18:30 UTC
Bora Bora, located 15 km northwest from Tahaa (see panoramic image) and 16 km south from Tupai, is a memeber of the Leeward Islands group.
Bora Bora consists of a mountainous central island of volcanic origins surrounded by a deep lagoon. The central island — whose steep mountains and ridges are clearly defined by shadows in this image — rises to a height of 727 m at Mount Otemanu. Enclosing the lagoon and central island is a wide barrier-island reef complex with of broad reefs in the west and low coral islands in the east. The total land area is 29 km².
With the exception of Toopua, all of the major islets of Bora Bora are located around the outer reef rim or upon the shallow back reef flats; Toopua, like the main island, is situated within the deeper waters of the central lagoon. The entire east and north sides of the atoll are lined by a long series of narrow motu: Motu Taurere, Motu Piti Aau, Motu Totari, Motu Ome and Motu Oute. The west side contains the main passage in to the lagoon — the Passe Teavanui
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center
