Sorol

Sorol

One of the Caroline Islands most isolated locations, the small Sorol atoll is centrally located within Yap State lying approximately midway between the widely separated islands of western and eastern Yap State. Ulithi lies 193 km to the north-northwest and Eauripik 320 km to the southeast.

Elongate in outline, Sorol has a maximum dimension of 12.5 km in length and a greatest width of 3.5 km. The northern rim of the atoll consists of a breaking reef crest that is backed by broad back reef slopes from which emerge several atoll-scrub covered islets; the shorter southern rim is less well-developed than the northern rim, is considerably narrower and is broken into two main sections where a pass over a shallow sill leads into the interior lagoon. The central lagoon basin of 5 km by 2 km is deep, with a maximum depth of 45 m. The entire atoll covers an area of around 20 km², including the 7 km² lagoon.

Scattered along the northern rim are 9 small islets with a combined area of 0.9 km²; the 4 largest islets are vegetated.

image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center

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