Christmas Island

Christmas Island is the uplifted peak of a huge underwater volcanic mountain, rising steeply some 5000 m from the ocean floor. The highest point on the island is 361 m above sea level. Over the eons, the island has been raised above sea level in stages allowing the wave action to cut new cliffs at each stage, resulting in a series of picturesque terraces and dramatic coastal and inland cliffs rising to a central plateau at about 250-300 m. Coral formed over the volcanic core at each stage of the island’s development, providing a thick crust of limestone that now covers the island.