Editing Midway Atoll (section)

==Geography and geology==
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align: right;"
|+Geography of Midway Atoll<ref name="More About Midway">{{cite web |last1=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |title=More About Midway |url=https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/more_about_midway.html |website=Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial |publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |access-date=6 April 2018 |archive-date=August 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812170657/https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Midway_Atoll/more_about_midway.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
! scope="col" |Island
! scope="col" |Acres
! scope="col" |Hectares
|-
! scope="row" |Sand Island
|1,117
|452
|-
! scope="row" |Eastern Island
|336
|136
|-
! scope="row" |Spit Island
|15
|6
|-
! scope="row" |Total land
|1,549
|627
|-
! scope="row" |Submerged reef/ocean
|580,392
|234,876
|}

[[File:Midway2021OSM.png|thumb|Enlargeable, detailed map of Midway Atoll]]

Midway Atoll is part of a chain of volcanic islands, atolls, and [[seamount]]s extending from the [[Hawaii (island)|Island of Hawaii]] up to the tip of the [[Aleutian Islands]] and known as the [[Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain]], between [[Pearl and Hermes Atoll]] and [[Kure Atoll]] in the [[Northwestern Hawaiian Islands]]. It consists of a ring-shaped [[coral reef|barrier reef]] nearly {{cvt|5|mi|km}} in diameter<ref name="More About Midway"/> and several sand islets. The two significant pieces of land, Sand Island and Eastern Island, provide a habitat for millions of seabirds. The island sizes are shown in the table above. The atoll, which has a small population (approximately 60 in 2014,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g28932-d646698/Hawaii:United-States:Midway.Atoll.html |title=Hawaii: Midway Atoll – TripAdvisor |work=tripadvisor.com |access-date=September 16, 2016 |archive-date=July 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711132948/https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g28932-d646698/Hawaii:United-States:Midway.Atoll.html |url-status=live }}</ref> but no indigenous inhabitants), is designated an ''[[insular area]]'' under the authority of the [[United States Department of the Interior]].

Midway was formed roughly 28 million years ago when the seabed underneath it was over the same [[Hotspot (geology)|hotspot]] from which the [[Hawaii (island)|Island of Hawaii]] is now being formed. Midway was once a [[shield volcano]], perhaps as large as the island of [[Lanai]]. As the volcano piled up, lava flows built the island, its weight depressed the crust, and the island slowly subsided for millions of years, a process known as [[isostasy|isostatic adjustment]].

As the island subsided, a [[coral reef]] around the former volcanic island could maintain itself near sea level by growing upwards. That reef is now over {{cvt|516|ft|m}} thick<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ladd |first1=H. S. |last2=Tracey |first2=J. I. Jr. |last3=Gross |first3=M. G. |name-list-style=amp |year=1967 |title=Drilling on Midway Atoll, Hawaii |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=156 |issue=3778 |pages=1088–1095 |bibcode=1967Sci...156.1088L |doi=10.1126/science.156.3778.1088 |pmid=17774053 |s2cid=45853811}} Also reprinted here [https://books.google.com/books?id=SFLoKRq-joEC&pg=PA41] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413094355/https://books.google.com/books?id=SFLoKRq-joEC&pg=PA41|date=April 13, 2016}}.</ref> (in the lagoon, {{cvt|1261|ft|m}}, composed mostly of post-[[Miocene]] limestones with a layer of upper Miocene (Tertiary ''g'') sediments and lower Miocene (Tertiary ''e'') limestones at the bottom overlying the basalts). What remains today is a shallow water atoll about {{cvt|6|mi|km}} across. Following [[Kure Atoll]], Midway is the 2nd most northerly atoll in the world.

===Infrastructure===
The atoll has some {{cvt|20|mi|km}} of roads, {{cvt|4.8|mi|km|1}} of pipelines, one port on Sand Island ([[World Port Index]] Nr. 56328, MIDWAY ISLAND), and an airfield. {{As of|2004|post=,}} [[Henderson Field (Midway Atoll)|Henderson Field]] airfield at Midway Atoll, with its one active runway (rwy 06/24, around {{cvt|8000|ft|m}} long) has been designated as an emergency diversion airport for aircraft flying under [[ETOPS]] rules. Although the FWS closed all airport operations on November{{nbsp}}22, 2004, public access to the island was restored in March 2008.<ref name="fws011508">{{cite web |url=http://www.fws.gov/midway/MidwayOSnr011508.pdf |title=Midway Atoll Program to Reopen in March |date=January 11, 2008 |work=[[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216073546/http://www.fws.gov/midway/MidwayOSnr011508.pdf <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=February 16, 2008}}</ref>

Eastern Island Airstrip is a disused airfield used by U.S. forces during the Battle of Midway. It is mostly constructed of [[Marston Mat]] and was built by the United States Navy [[Seabees]].

{{Wide image|Verbesina_encelioides_panoramic.jpg|1200px|360-degree panoramic view of the low-lying landscape of Eastern Island, Midway Atoll}}