earth science

Rawaki

Rawaki is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Rawaki rather than just read about it. In short: Rawaki is one of the Phoenix Islands in the Republic of Kiribati, also known by its previous name of Phoenix Island. It is a small, uninhabited atoll, approximately 1.2 by 0.8 kilometres (0.75 by 0.50 miles) in size and 65 hectares (160 acres) in area, with a shallow, brackish lagoon that is not connected to the open sea.

Key takeaways

Rawaki belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Rawaki to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Rawaki from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Rawaki is one of the Phoenix Islands in the Republic of Kiribati, also known by its previous name of Phoenix Island. It is a small, uninhabited atoll, approximately 1.2 by 0.8 kilometres (0.75 by 0.50 miles) in size and 65 hectares (160 acres) in area, with a shallow, brackish lagoon that is not connected to the open sea. It is located at 3.7207°S 170.7124°W / -3.7207; -170.7124. The island is designated as a wildlife sanctuary. Kiribati declared the Phoenix Islands Protected Area in 2006, with the park being expanded in 2008. The 164,200-square-mile (425,000-square-kilometre) marine reserve contains eight coral atolls including Rawaki island.

Flora and fauna

Rawaki's flora and fauna Rawaki has been described as being ham or pear shaped. Its highest elevation is approximately six meters. It is treeless, being covered mostly with herbs and grasses, and thus forms an excellent landing and nesting site for migratory seabirds and turtles. Unlike many other Pacific islands, no rats were noted on Rawaki during a 1924 scientific expedition. A colony of feral rabbits was introduced in the nineteenth century, but was eliminated in 2008. Rawaki has its own species of seabird tick, Ixodes amersoni. It also boasts various species of flies, moths, leafhoppers, green bugs, and spiders. Sea birds consist of sooty, grey, and white terns; frigates, petrels and shearwaters; boobies, migratory plover and curlew. Rawaki has never been invaded by rats so the bird populations have survived.

Rawaki's reefs The 2000 surveys (Obura, et al.) identified that sites on the reef averaged 60% Live Coral Cover with coralline algae as the next dominant cover category in shallow water. Unlike other islands in the Phoenix Group sites, branching corals were not dominant at Rawaki with highest cover contributed by encrusting/submassive colonies or coral plates. Massive corals were also significant in abundance, reflecting the origin of the coral bommies that form the main reef substrate of the sites. The most abundant coral species at Rawaki Island were: Acropora cytherea, Montipora efflorescens, Cyphastrea chalcidicum, Goniastrea stelligera, Leptastrea purpurea, Montastraea annuligera, Pavona varians, Pocillopora grandis, Porites lutea.

History Unlike some other islands in the Phoenix group, Rawaki does not seem to have ever been inhabited by prehistoric Polynesians or other Pacific islanders. Rawaki was discovered on 23 February 1824 by Capt. John Palmer from the London whaling ship Phoenix. It was claimed for the U.S. under the Guano Islands Act on March 14, 1859, by C.A. Williams and Company, later the Phoenix Guano Company. The company mined guano on the island until the supply was exhausted in August 1871, when the islands were abandoned. This claim was later relinquished in the Treaty of Tarawa. On June 29, 1889, a British protectorate was declared, and the island surveyed. On March 18, 1937, it was placed under the jurisdiction of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. It later became part of Kiribati. In 2008, Rawaki was placed, together with the other Phoenix Islands, within the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, one of the largest marine protected areas in the world.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Rawaki

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Rawaki claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Rawaki before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Rawaki ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Rawaki

In research: Rawaki appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Rawaki in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Rawaki is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Atolls of Kiribati, Former disputed islands, Former populated places in Oceania, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Rawaki outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Rawaki in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Rawaki means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Rawaki out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Rawaki in simple terms?

Why does Rawaki matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Rawaki?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Rawaki.