What is special with Aitutaki?
Aitutaki is an “Tilted Atoll”: the volcano “got stuck” at its northern end. While the southern part of the island has dropped below sea level, the northern part is still reaching up 120m from the sea. On the western beginning of the walk onto the Maunga Pu one can clearly see the tilted structure of the massif. You can compare the origin of a “standard” atoll with a “tilted” atoll from the following picture (the names below some of the pictures are examples for island/atolls of the respective type) Regular Atoll A: a reef is growing at a certain, optimum depth around the volcano B an C: the volcano descents (or the sea level rises) over a long period D: the volcano has completely disappered below the oceans surface Tilted Atoll E: like (A), a reef is growing F: the left part of the volcano (Aitutaki’s south end) is descending, but the right side remains G: while the left/south part has completely submerged, the right part is still forming a mountain Please note, that two of Aitutaki’s
