•fa />AcKd im 
It, 
Little is known about the original aspect of Phoenix Island. - V ^ 
/ ("Hut chinson^'Guano was mined from the peripheral portions of the lagoon -ao—inda^- 
( 1950).» eoAod ■by Arundel (l890)/ > " .which now resemble empty plates'*. The floor 
"ol r the present lagoon - may also have been used for mining if we are to 
take this description literally. The island was worked for eleven years 
but it is not clear whether this was a continuous operation (Bryan, 1942). 
Since Bryan's visit several noticeable changes have taken place on the 
island. The ridge of broken coral on the east side has become populated 
alb^t sparsely in many areas with a stand of Boerhavia and occasional 
plants of Portulaca . Triumfetta was not found in 1964 . In the latest 
account (Biyan, 1942) the presence of Sesuvium is mentioned from the 
west side of the island only. If this is so the present peripheral mat 
has surrounded the entire lagoon in the last forty years. There is also 
a suggestion that if the guano wa3 mined from the lagoon periphery that 
the guano deposit may have been deposited under the conditions which 
exist at present as described, elsewhere in this paper. In that case the 
^SlueTaced ijjpoby (Sula daotylatra) might be indicated as a major source 
of tie guaho soils on Phoenix Island and the other dry islands which 
exhibited guano deposits in sites approximating those found on Phoenix, 
that frigatShe high density of individuals of a large number of species of nesting 
^£ birds nest/-birds probably provide the vegetation with plenty of fertilizer. This 
ed on the gu ano "rain" is of vital importance in the periodic bloom o f vegetation 
Sesuvium “on these dry islands and is fundamental to soil building.^rEere is evi— 
mat at the dence for a fresh water lens on Phoenix Island. A water sample was taken 
time of from a seep at the SE end in llovember 1964* At this time water was flowing 
his visit, onto the lagoon flooir. The corrected salinity reading for this sample 
Bryan als< 
mentions 
This was 
not true 
in 1964.J 
I 
/ 
was 20*4 parts of salt per thousand, considerable below that of normal 
seawater. This seems to indicate that the freshwater lens was elevated 
by the rise in saline waters under the island during the period of high 
tide rise and portions of the lens spilled into the lagoon. Vt-* 
^ S. •J.T. —jUul, ui. -t±4_ C ; j l>) 
U/Vv- ' yV ~' ^ ** • 
Arundel, J. T. I 89 O. 
The Phoenix Group and other islands. !fyped copy, lo pp., B. P. Bishop 
Museum, Honolulu. 
Bryan, E. H., Jr. 1942. 
American Polynesia and the Hawaiian Chain. 1—253» Honolulu* 
V*' - 
Cr.e. I. 
to. 1-SS4-. 
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Sc* 
Wy£, 
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