Guguan

Guguan is an island in the Northern Marianas island chain and is 130 miles north of Saipan. It measures only 3.87 km² (1.495 sq mi) but contains two volcanoes, one of which is active. A major eruption in 1883 produced pyroclastic flows as well as lava flows. The coast is bordered by steep basaltic rock with gables of high ridges which contain deep, rain-eroded gorges. The highest point on the island is 988 feet. Guguan is part of the Northern Islands Municipality.

In the early 1980s Guguan was set aside as a nature preserve by the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). It has never been permanently settled by humans and is free from feral species such as goats, pigs and cats. Among the undisturbed wildlife is the rare Micronesian megapode "megapodius laperouse" which can be found only in the Northern Marianas and the Palau Island Group.

References

* [http://www.oceandots.com/pacific/mariana/guguan.htm Guguan]
* [http://gaebler.info/sonstiges/marianen.htm Pascal Horst Lehne and Christoph Gäbler: "Über die Marianen." Lehne-Verlag, Wohldorf in Germany 1972.] and [http://gaebler.info/sonstiges/marianen.htm#guguan Guguan]