lar art objects. It's the broadest goal of this exhibit to 

 increase public understanding of, and respect for, 

 these faroff islands and their peoples. Using the 

 metaphor of an imaginary journey, we'll visit many 

 unfamiliar islands, as well as highlight unexpected 

 facts about well-known places. 



Where Will Our Travels Take Us? 



Traveling the Pacific uses many imaginative techniques 

 to provide visitors of all ages with information about 

 the ocean, the land, and the plants, animals, and 

 peoples that inhabit about a third of Earth's surface. 

 (The area included in the exhibit is shown on the 

 map on page 16. ) The story concerns a few big is- 

 lands, notably New Guinea and New Zealand, and 

 many thousands of small islands, some no more than 

 tiny specks of land. Most are so small that their scale 

 must be greatly exaggerated just to be shown on a 

 map. 



This range of island sizes, compounded by their 

 distribution over a huge geographic area, makes for a 

 great variety of environments: rugged mountains, 

 low-lying swamps, tropical forests, and nearly barren 

 sandspits. On some islands plants and animals have 

 lived in isolation for millions of years and have 

 evolved in unique ways. Adapting to these environ- 

 ments, and experiencing change over thousands of 

 years, the human cultures have also become extreme- 

 ly diverse. 



In short, diversity is an important characteris- 

 tic of Pacific islands. No single picture, object, or 

 phrase can sum them up, and no exhibit can tell 

 you everything about them; it can only provide an 

 introduction. 



Geography and Geology 



No one has really counted, but geographers estimate 

 that there are between 20,000 and 30,000 islands in 

 the Pacific. The biggest one. New Guinea, is the 

 second largest island in the world. (Only Greenland is 

 larger. ) It covers about 306,000 square miles, the size 

 of Texas and Kentucky put together. The smallest is- 

 lands are just piles of coral rock that barely rise above 

 ocean's surface. 



Traveling the Pacific will help our visitors learn 

 about the geography of these remote islands using a 

 unique orientation method. At the entrance to the 

 exhibit, you'll find a large map made from ceramic 

 tiles, spread across the floor. A sign invites you to take 

 1 an "Island Hop Across the Pacific," to walk on the 



map and discover the names and locations of hun- 

 dreds of islands. You can measure your foot against a 

 scale of miles, and pace off distances. You'll find it's 

 more than 8,000 miles from Chicago to New Guinea! 



How did all those islands get there? That's the 

 topic covered in the first major section of Traveling 

 the Pacific, and as you might expect, there's no single 

 answer to that question; it depends on which islands 

 you consider. We'll take a closer look at one process 

 of island formation. 



In some places deep below the Pacific seafloor 

 are stationary "hot spots," where molten rock from 

 within the earth pushes up to form a volcano. Over 

 time, the volcano may grow large enough to rise 

 above sea level and build an island. We're not sure 

 exactly how many hot spots are under the Pacific sea- 

 floor, but geologists think there might be about ten. 

 Coupled with tectonic movement, those few hot 

 spots have built thousands of mid-ocean islands. 



The Pacific Plate, that part of Earth's crust 

 which lies beneath most of the Pacific Ocean, is mov- 

 ing northwest at the rate of about four inches a year. 

 As it travels, the plate carries newly created volcanic 

 islands away from their hot spot sources. Over mil- 

 lions of years, these volcanic islands erode and subside 

 into the sea; coral torn from underwater reefs piles up 

 around them to form rings of low islands called atoUs. 



The hot spots stay fixed in place, and their con- 

 tinued eruptions form new islands. Each island is car- 

 ried away by the moving plate, and each goes through 

 the process of erosion and subsidence. Like products 

 on an assembly-line conveyor belt, chains of islands 

 are carried on the moving Pacific Plate. 



The best known island chain is the Hawaiian 

 group, with hot spot volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kilauea 

 still active on the "Big Island." Islands northwest in 

 the Hawaiian chain show the process of aging — those 

 farthest from the hot spot are oldest. Other island 

 groups formed long ago by hot spots include the Soci- 

 ety Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Gilberts, and 

 the Carolines. 



Traveling the Pacific highlights the story of island 

 chains with a variety of media. We've recreated an 

 actual lava flow from Hawaii, cast life-size in fiber- 

 glass. (See page 22 for an account of that process. ) 

 This flow is the basis for a "lava theatre," animated 

 with special effects, including lights, television, and 

 a soundtrack of native Hawaiian chants and stories 

 about the fire goddess, Pele. Take a few moments to 

 listen to these ancient tales; they have remarkable 

 parallels with modem theories of plate tectonics. 



