Kaukura
- ISS010-E-5445
- 29 October 2004
- 19:51 UTC
Kaukura is a medium-sized atoll of the northwestern regions of the Tuamotu Archipelago, located upon the westernmost chain of atolls. It lies to the south of both Arutua (23 km distant) and Apataki (24 km distant). The largest atoll of the entire archipelago, Rangiroa, is located 56 km to the northwest.
Kaukura forms an elongate structure of 46 km in length and up to 14 km in width. The narrow reef rim, measuring some 106 km in length, encloses a lagoon of 436 km² in area. Kaukura exhibits a characteristic that is common to many of the atolls in the region: a narrow northern rim and a broad, largely awash, southern rim that is generally devoid of any significant landmasses.
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center
