Islands in the Pacific: Settings, Distribution and Classification

Oceanic islands have a history of being misunderstood by outsiders, commonly marginalized in global synthesis and planning, their considerable diversity often understated. To capture and explain the diversity of islands in the Pacific, a classification is developing using elevation and lithology (rock type) as the highest level criteria. For each of the 1779 islands, defined as ocean-bounded landmasses ≥1 ha (0.01 km2) in area, data were collected on locations and shapes, areas, names, elevations and lithologies. Eight island types were identified—volcanic high islands (≥30 amsl, ≥80% igneous); volcanic low islands