soldiers defended the atoll during WWII, and where up to
several thousand dependents, contractors, and soldiers
lived and worked for more than half a century. Also,
metallic debris remains in near shore waters as well as evidence of seeping contaminants and petroleum residues
from the main islands.
The National Wildlife Refuge boundaries encompass
“1,472 acres” of emergent land and “580,392 acres” of
submerged lands and waters, out to “12 nautical miles”
(nmi). On June 15, 2006, President Bush added the Midway NWR in his Proclamation designating the NWHI
Marine National Monument (MNM), and in 2007, its
name was changed to the Papahānaumokuākea MNM.
The Monument is managed by the NOAA, FWS, and the
State of Hawai‘i, and it protects all 10 of the NWHI out
to a distance of 50 nmi, including 30 submerged reefs
inside the MNM boundaries. Midway is presently the only
destination in the Monument open to public visitation.
Midway Atoll (Hawaiian Archipelago), Figure 3 Preliminary logs of two 1965 Midway Atoll drill holes showing lithography, core
recovery, and carbonate mineral composition of the cores. Source: Ladd et al. (1967).
MIDWAY ATOLL (HAWAIIAN ARCHIPELAGO)
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