Editing Clipperton Island (section)

==Geography==
[[File:Localisation de l'ile de Clipperton.png|thumb|left|Location of Clipperton Island]]
The [[coral island]] is located at {{Coord|10|18|N|109|13|W|name=Clipperton Island|type:isle_region:FR-CP|display=inline}} in the East Pacific, {{Convert|1080|km|nmi|0|lk=on|abbr=on}} southwest of Mexico, {{Convert|2424|km|nmi|0|abbr=on}} west of [[Nicaragua]], {{Convert|2545|km|nmi|0|abbr=on}} west of [[Costa Rica]] and {{Convert|2390|km|nmi|0|abbr=on}} northwest of the [[Galápagos Islands]] in [[Ecuador]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hinz|first1=Earl R.|last2=Howard|first2=Jim|date=2006|title=Landfalls of Paradise: Cruising Guide to the Pacific Islands|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=9780824845186|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZYBEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22clipperton%22+%22new+caledonia%22+%22oceania%22&pg=PA378|access-date=4 February 2022|quote=French Polynesia operates as a CEPT country under French authority, but still requires local permission and a local call sign (as do the other French colonies in Oceania: Clipperton, New Caledonia, and Wallis and Futuna.)|archive-date=4 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404082232/https://books.google.com/books?id=wZYBEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22clipperton%22+%22new+caledonia%22+%22oceania%22&pg=PA378|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Todd|first=Ian|date=1974|title=Island Realm: A Pacific Panorama|publisher=Angus & Robertson|page=190|isbn=9780207127618|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gcEJAQAAIAAJ&q=%22French+language+cultures%22+1974+pacific|access-date=2 February 2022|quote=On the other side of Oceania, about 1,800 miles (2,897 km) west of the Panama Canal, is another French possession, Clipperton Island.|archive-date=4 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404112846/https://books.google.com/books?id=gcEJAQAAIAAJ&q=%22French+language+cultures%22+1974+pacific|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mustin |first1=Lloyd Montague |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/on1395066970 |title=Witness to Neptune's inferno: the Pacific War diary of Lieutenant Commander Lloyd M. Mustin, USS Atlanta (CL 51) |last2=Winkler |first2=David F. |date=2024 |publisher=Casemate Publishers |isbn=978-1-63624-407-5 |location=Havertown, PA |oclc=on1395066970}}</ref> The nearest land is [[Socorro Island]], about {{Convert|945|km|nmi|lk=on|abbr=on}} to the northwest in the [[Revillagigedo Islands|Revillagigedo Archipelago]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ineich|first1=Ivan|last2=Zug|first2=George|date=1991|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1446114|title=Nomenclatural status of Emoia cyanura (Lacertilia, Scincidae) populations in the Central Pacific|journal=[[Copeia]]|volume=1991|issue=4|pages=1132–1136|access-date=18 March 2022|publisher=American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists|doi=10.2307/1446114|jstor=1446114|quote=Its distribution encompasses much of Oceania from the Hawaiian archipelago, Clipperton Island, and Easter Island westward through Polynesia and Melanesia|archive-date=15 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220315133208/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1446114|url-status=live}}</ref> The nearest French-owned island is [[Hiva Oa]] in the [[Marquesas Islands]] of [[French Polynesia]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.cairn.info/revue-outre-terre-2022-1-page-467.htm |title=L'Indo-Pacifique et la souveraineté de la France en Océanie |journal=Outre-Terre |date=16 March 2022 |volume=6061 |issue=1 |pages=467–503 |last1=Fisher |first1=Denise |doi=10.3917/oute2.060.0468 |s2cid=247540315 |access-date=29 July 2022 |archive-date=29 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220729135043/https://www.cairn.info/revue-outre-terre-2022-1-page-467.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Bempéchat|first=Paul-André|date=2017|title=Jean Cras, Polymath of Music and Letters|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781351561754|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DCcxDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22in+oceania%22+%22clipperton%22&pg=PT72|access-date=18 February 2022|quote=In India, French settlements included Pondicherry, Karikal, Yanaon, Mahé and Chandernagore; and in Oceania, Clipperton, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Vanuatu (shared with the British Empire)|archive-date=5 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405032334/https://books.google.com/books?id=DCcxDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22in+oceania%22+%22clipperton%22&pg=PT72|url-status=live}}</ref>

Despite its proximity to North America, Clipperton is often considered one of the eastern-most points of [[Oceania]] due to being part the French Indo-Pacific,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Terry|first=James P.|date=1988|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gs3aAAAAMAAJ&q=%22cocos+island%22+%22oceania%22+%22costa%22|title=Climate and Environmental Change in the Pacific|publisher=The University of Michigan|page=5|isbn=9789820103580|access-date=11 March 2022|quote=The British added the Ellice, Pitcairn and portions of the Phoenix Islands; the Australians consolidated their claims to Papua; and the French consolidated their claims to Clipperton islands; Easter and adjacent islands were claimed by Chile, Cocos Island was claimed by Costa Rica, and the Galapagos claimed by Ecuador. By 1900, there were virtually no remaining islands in Oceania unclaimed by foreign powers.|archive-date=5 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405032336/https://books.google.com/books?id=Gs3aAAAAMAAJ&q=%22cocos+island%22+%22oceania%22+%22costa%22|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12399-022-00893-w |doi=10.1007/s12399-022-00893-w |title=France in the Pacific. History of a Discreet Presence |year=2022 |last1=Flichy de la Neuville |first1=Thomas |last2=De Gentile |first2=Eleonore |journal=Zeitschrift für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik |volume=15 |pages=69–82 |s2cid=248174340 |access-date=30 July 2022 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730010823/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12399-022-00893-w |url-status=live }}</ref> and to commonalities between its marine fauna and the marine fauna of [[Hawaii]] and [[Kiribati]]'s [[Line Islands]], with the island sitting along the migration path for animals in the [[Eastern Tropical Pacific]] region.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Fourriére |first1=Manon |last2=Reyes-Bonilla |first2=Héctor |last3=Rodríguez-Zaragoza |first3=Fabián A. |last4=Crane |first4=Nicole |date=2014 |title=Fishes of Clipperton Atoll, Eastern Pacific: Checklist, Endemism, and Analysis of Completeness of the Inventory |url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/10.2984/68.3.7 |journal=Pacific Science|volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=375–395 |doi=10.2984/68.3.7 |s2cid=56166137 |issn=0030-8870 |access-date=13 June 2023 |archive-date=7 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230707144328/https://bioone.org/journals/pacific-science/volume-68/issue-3/68.3.7/Fishes-of-Clipperton-Atoll-Eastern-Pacific--Checklist-Endemism-and/10.2984/68.3.7.short |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Romero-Torres Treml Acosta Paz-García 2018">{{cite journal |last1=Romero-Torres |first1=Mauricio |last2=Treml |first2=Eric A. |last3=Acosta |first3=Alberto |last4=Paz-García |first4=David A. |title=The Eastern Tropical Pacific coral population connectivity and the role of the Eastern Pacific Barrier |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |date=19 June 2018 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=9354 |doi=10.1038/s41598-018-27644-2 |pmid=29921956 |pmc=6008413 |bibcode=2018NatSR...8.9354R }}</ref><ref name="clip">{{cite journal |last1=Robertson |first1=D. R. |last2=Allen |first2=G. R. |title=Zoogeography of the shorefish fauna of Clipperton Atoll |journal=[[Coral Reefs]] |date=1 June 1996 |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=121–131 |doi=10.1007/BF01771902 |bibcode=1996CorRe..15..121R |s2cid=41906452 }}</ref> The island is the only emerged part of the [[East Pacific Rise]], as well as the only feature in the [[Clipperton fracture zone]] that breaks the ocean's surface, and it is one of the few islands in the Pacific that lacks an underwater [[archipelagic apron]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Klitgord |first1=Kim D. |last2=Mammerickx |first2=Jacqueline |date=1982-08-10 |title=Northern East Pacific Rise: Magnetic anomaly and bathymetric framework |url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1029/JB087iB08p06725 |journal=[[Journal of Geophysical Research|Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth]]|volume=87 |issue=B8 |pages=6725–6750 |doi=10.1029/JB087iB08p06725|bibcode=1982JGR....87.6725K }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Menard |first=Henry W. |date=1956 |title=Archipelagic Aprons |url=http://search.datapages.com/data/doi/10.1306/5CEAE56B-16BB-11D7-8645000102C1865D |journal=[[AAPG Bulletin]]|volume=40 |doi=10.1306/5CEAE56B-16BB-11D7-8645000102C1865D |issn=0149-1423 |access-date=1 April 2023 |archive-date=13 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813011654/http://search.datapages.com/data/doi/10.1306/5CEAE56B-16BB-11D7-8645000102C1865D |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Clipperton Fracture Zone in the Northeastern Equatorial Pacific |last1=Menard |first1=H. W. |last2=Fisher |first2=Robert L. |journal=The Journal of Geology |date=1958 |volume=66 |issue=3 |page=240 |doi=10.1086/626502 |jstor=30080925|bibcode=1958JG.....66..239M |s2cid=129268203 }}</ref>

The atoll is low-lying and largely barren, with some scattered grasses, and a few clumps of [[Coconut|coconut palms]] (''Cocos nucifera'').<ref name=Sacotte1978>{{cite web |url=http://www.clipperton2008.org/fo0xa-h.htm |title=Dx pedition on Clipperton |last=Sacotte |first=Jean-Charles |translator-last=Jeanne |translator-first= Sylvie |date=March 1, 1978 |website=1978 Dxpedition to Clipperton Atoll |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081229191750/http://www.clipperton2008.org/fo0xa-h.htm |archive-date=2008-12-29 |publisher=Clipperton DX Club |access-date=2023-04-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jost |first1=Xenia |last2=Jost |first2=Christian H. |last3=Meyer |first3=Jean-Yves |date=2019-06-06 |title=Flora and Vegetation of Clipperton (La Passion) Atoll, North-Eastern Pacific Ocean: Three Centuries of Changes and Recent Plant Dynamics |url=https://smithsonian.figshare.com/articles/Flora_and_Vegetation_of_Clipperton_La_Passion_Atoll_North-Eastern_Pacific_Ocean_Three_Centuries_of_Changes_and_Recent_Plant_Dynamics/9761729 |journal=Atoll Research Bulletin|issue=623 |pages=1–31 |doi=10.5479/si.0077-5630.623 |s2cid=197962758 |issn=0077-5630 |access-date=1 April 2023 |archive-date=10 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201210183858/https://smithsonian.figshare.com/articles/Flora_and_Vegetation_of_Clipperton_La_Passion_Atoll_North-Eastern_Pacific_Ocean_Three_Centuries_of_Changes_and_Recent_Plant_Dynamics/9761729 |url-status=live |doi-access=free }}</ref> The land ring surrounding the lagoon measures {{convert|1.7|km2|mi2}} in area with an average elevation of {{Convert|2|m|ft|lk=on|abbr=on}}, although a small [[Volcano|volcanic]] outcropping, referred to as [[Clipperton Rock]] ({{lang|fr|Rocher de Clipperton}}), rises to {{Convert|29|m|ft|lk=on|abbr=on}} on its southeast side.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Clipperton Island pictures and history|url=http://www.qsl.net/clipperton2000/history.html|website=QSL.net|publisher=2000 DXpedition to Clipperton Island|access-date=27 April 2022|archive-date=13 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220413123917/https://www.qsl.net/clipperton2000/history.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The surrounding {{convert|3.7|km2|mi2|adj=on}} reef hosts an abundance of corals and is partly exposed at low tide.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pogoreutz |first1=Claudia |last2=Clua |first2=Eric E. G. |last3=Tortolero-Langarica |first3=J. J. Adolfo |date=2022 |title=High live coral cover and incidence of a pink-spotted coral phenotype on remote reefs off Clipperton Island, Tropical Eastern Pacific |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00227-022-04101-3 |journal=[[Marine Biology (journal)|Marine Biology]]|volume=169 |issue=9 |pages=115 |doi=10.1007/s00227-022-04101-3 |bibcode=2022MarBi.169..115P |s2cid=257057229 |issn=0025-3162 |access-date=1 April 2023 |archive-date=10 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410154003/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00227-022-04101-3 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=ClippertonIsland>{{WWF ecoregion|id=nt0705|name=Eastern Pacific Ocean, southeast of Mexico|access-date=17 June 2012}}</ref> In 2001 a [[geodetic marker]] was placed to evaluate if the land is rising or sinking.<ref name=":11">{{Cite journal |last=Tchekémian |first=Anthony |date=2022 |title=Clipperton, seul territoire français dans l'océan Pacifique nord-oriental: quels enjeux environnementaux et géopolitiques? |trans-title=Clipperton, the only French territory in the Northeastern Pacific Ocean: what are the environmental and geopolitical issues? |url=https://journals.openedition.org/etudescaribeennes/23485 |journal=Études caribiéennes |language=French |volume=51 |access-date=2023-12-22}}</ref>

[[File:Clipperton Rock (1899).jpg|right|thumb|1899 sketch of Clipperton Rock from the ''Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College'', after a photograph]]
Clipperton Rock is the remains of the island's now extinct volcano's rim;<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Wheeler |first=Quentin |date=2012-08-11 |title=New to nature No 80: Callyspongia roosevelti|work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/aug/12/new-to-nature-callyspongia-roosevelti |access-date=2023-04-01 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401014539/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/aug/12/new-to-nature-callyspongia-roosevelti |url-status=live }}</ref> because it includes this rocky outcropping, Clipperton is not a true atoll and is sometimes referred to as a 'near-atoll'.<ref>{{Cite report |last=Limbaugh |first=Conrad |date=1959-05-01 |title=August – September 1958. Field Report. IGY Clipperton Island Expedition |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/20c152nj|access-date=31 March 2023 |archive-date=31 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331165543/https://escholarship.org/uc/item/20c152nj |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last1=Goldberg |first1=Walter M. |title=A Global Atlas of Atolls |date=2023-07-14 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1201/9781003287339-1 |access-date=2023-12-23 |place=Boca Raton |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-003-28733-9 |last2=Rankey |first2=Eugene C.|doi=10.1201/9781003287339-1 }}</ref> The surrounding reef in combination with the weather makes landing on the island difficult and anchoring offshore hazardous for larger ships; in the 1940s American ships reported active problems in this regard.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 June 1945 |title=War Diary of USS Pontotoc (AVS-7) |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/140045451 |access-date=2023-04-01 |website=catalog.archives.gov |series=World War II War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories, between ca. January 1, 1942–ca. June 1, 1946. |publisher=U.S. National Archives and Records Administration |page=1 |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401032300/https://catalog.archives.gov/id/140045451 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite interview|last=Rose|first=Neil|title=Voices of WWII: Neil Rose|work=Friends of the National WWII Memorial|location=Washington, DC|url=https://www.wwiimemorialfriends.org/voices/neil-rose|access-date=2023-04-01|archive-date=1 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401072431/https://www.wwiimemorialfriends.org/voices/neil-rose|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Fluckey2012>{{cite interview |last=Fluckey |first=Owen |interviewer=Richard Misenhimer |title=An Interview with Owen E. Fluckey |work=[[National Museum of the Pacific War]] |date=July 3, 2012 |location=Argos, Indiana |url=https://digitalarchive.pacificwarmuseum.org/digital/collection/p16769coll1/id/2750 |access-date=2023-04-01 |page=16 |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401055245/https://digitalarchive.pacificwarmuseum.org/digital/collection/p16769coll1/id/2750 |url-status=live }}</ref>