thumb|upright=1.3|The [[guano-coated Gardner Pinnacles.]]

thumb|upright=1.3|Map showing the location of the Gardner Pinnacles in the [[Hawaiian Islands|Hawaiian island chain.]]

thumb|Map of the Gardner Pinnacles

The Gardner Pinnacles () are two barren rock outcrops surrounded by a reef and located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The large and small rocks have been named Ōnūnui and Ōnūiki, respectively.

The Pūhāhonu volcano responsible for the pinnacles is northwest of Honolulu and from French Frigate Shoals. The total area of the two small islets, remnants of an ancient shield volcano, the world's largest, is . The highest peak is .

The Gardner Pinnacles were discovered and named in 1820 by the whaling ship Maro. The island may be the last remnant of one of the largest volcanoes on Earth. It holds the record for the largest and hottest shield volcano.

History

thumb|A drawing of the Gardner Pinnacles in 1909|left

The Gardner Pinnacles were first discovered on June 2, 1820, by the American whaler Maro, commanded by Captain Joseph Allen.

The Gardner Pinnacles are home to the giant opihi (Cellana talcosa), a limpet known in Hawaiian as the , which is not found anywhere else in the world outside the Hawaiian Islands.

In 1903 the Gardner Pinnacles became a part of the Hawaiian Islands Bird Reservation. In the 21st century it is part of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument wildlife refuge. In the Hawaiian Archipelago, adjacent islands/reefs are French Frigate Shoals to the southeast, and Maro Reef to the northwest.

Geology

thumb|Gardner Pinnacles

thumb|Gardner

The island is made up of basalt rock, The Puhahonu volcano (Gardner) would be twice as big as Mauna Loa's based on that research. At one time they were hypothesised to be related to the Pūhāhonu volcano because of arch volcanism, which can not be the case, given the newly determined age difference. However, there are over a dozen species of bird observed here, many nesting.

Name

The name Gardner comes from its discovery in 1820, when the Captain Joseph Allen of the ship Maro named it Gardner's Island.

It has sometimes been called Gardner Rock or Gardner Island, besides the Gardner Pinnacles.

The Hawaiian name, Pūhāhonu, means 'turtle surfacing for air', from pūhā 'to breathe at the surface' and honu 'turtle'.

See also

  • List of volcanoes in the Hawaiian – Emperor seamount chain

Notes

References

  • Gardner Pinnacles Islands of the Hawaiian Chain
  • Gardner Pinnacles Page ~ Bishop Museum
  • Quick Facts on the Gardner Pinnacles – from the PBS Ocean Adventures
  • Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument Information Management System
  • Gardner Pinnacles (Pūhāhonu)