On the Geology of Maiao (Society Islands)

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Abstract
The island of Maiao, also called Tubuai Manu or Tapamanoa, lies in the central Pacific Ocean in lat. 17° 38′ south, long. 150° 37′ west. It is a member of the Society Group, and is situated about 50 miles west of Tahiti. It was discovered by Capt. Wallis in 1767. Charles Darwin describes it as a small island rising to a height not exceeding 500 feet, and surrounded by a reef at a considerable distance from the shore. It was visited by the first-named Author and other members of the St. George Expedition in March 1925, and was found to consist of small volcanic island, about a mile long, surrounded by a barrier-reef, which has an extreme diameter from east to west of 6 miles (see figs. 1&2, p.343). At the spot where the landing was made, on the northern coast, there is a reef-flat, 200 or 300 yards wide, covered at high tide by about 6 feet of water in its central part, but by not more than a foot at its edge. At the back of the flat are traces of a limestone platform elevated to about 2 feet above sea-level and undercut. Behind this platform, and in places concealing it, a beach of calcareous sand and coral-dé slopes up gradually to a height of 6 feet above sea-level. The crest of the beach forms the highest point of the barrier-reef island, which swlopes down very gently to the lagoon, and is here between 500 and 600 yards

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