ABSTRACT
Eight atolls found in the Pacific belong to the United States. The southernmost two are within the northern Line Islands and include Palmyra, an atoll that was heavily modified prior to World War II, and Kingman Reef, an atoll that is essentially submerged. Johnston Atoll is quite isolated, lying more than 1,300 km from Kingman and has been compromised by nuclear testing and chemical waste storage. It is now simultaneously a bird sanctuary and an EPA superfund site. Four atolls are found across ~1,350 km of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, ending to the northwest with Kure, the northernmost atoll in the world. Tides in this area are generally less than 50 cm, and energetic waves can come from the east, south, or west. Wake is another isolated atoll located nearly 1,800 km SW of Kure that has been extensively modified for military use. The dominant flow is to the west from the North Equatorial Current, but in the vicinity of the NW Hawaiian Islands, currents are more complex. In the more southerly locations of Kingman and Palmyra atolls, the flow is predominantly eastward due to the North Equatorial Countercurrent.
