Geological History Of Palau Essay

The Corps of Engineers Post Hostilities Mapping Program conducted the geologic mapping of the Islands of Palau under the Pacific Islands Geologic Mapping Program. The islands of Palau are small, arc-shaped chain of islands, which are part of the Micronesia, located in the western equatorial part of the North Pacific Ocean. (Te Puna Web Directory. February 21, 2008. http://www.geocities.com/ctrlburn/introduction.html.)
Palau is divided into sixteen administrative regions called states. They include Kayangel, Aimeliik, Airai, Ngaraard, Ngerchelong, Ngardmau, Ngeremlengui, Ngatpang, Ngchesar, Ngiwal, Angaur, Koror, Peliliu, Hatohobei, Sonsorol, and last but not least Melekeok, which is also the capitol of the Republic of Palau. It used to be Koror but it was changed on October 7, 2006.   (“States of Palau”   from Wikipedia. 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States_of_Palau)
According to W. H. Hobbs, who came to the Palau Islands in 1962, he collected some samples of volcanic rocks and compared them to those of other islands. He ascribed the high limestone islands to differential up-lift of the underlying bow-shaped ridge and made them evidence of his theories on the formation of mountain ranges (Hobbs, 1923). (Te Puna Web Directory. February 21, 2008 http://www.geocities.com/ctrlburn/introduction.html.)
The islands of Palau are composed of accumulation of volcanic material and organic limestone. Three units, Babeldaob, Aimeliik, and Ngeremlengui, are comprised of volcanic breccia and interbedded tuff. They are largely basalt, andesite, and dacite, which came at irregular intervals during Eocene and Oligocene. (Te Puna Web Directory. Feb. 21, 2008. http://www.geocities.com/ctrlburn/introduction.html)
Babeldaob’s formation has abundant amygdaloidal fragments. It is “about 2,000 feet thick, although it may exceed 5,000 feet. The Thickness is uncertain because of the lack of a continuous section and recognizable beds for correlation.” “The base is not exposed and...