The Geology of American Memorial Park, Saipan: Wetland, Carbonate Sand and Limestone

American Memorial Park is on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, about 193 km (120 mi) north of Guam. It is owned by the Government of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and managed with the National Park Service as an affiliated area. Established on August 18, 1978, it covers about 54 hectares (133 acres).

The park honors those who died in the Marianas Campaign of World War II's Pacific Theater. It is a living memorial meant to help future generations understand the campaign, the sacrifices of American service members, and how the capture of Saipan, Tinian and Guam shaped the outcome of the war. Along with recreation areas, it holds World War II-era structures — Japanese pillboxes, fuel storage tanks, bunkers and a carbide plant storage building — a World War II museum, and a flag monument to the more than 4,000 U.S. military personnel and local islanders who died in June 1944.

The visitor center. National Park Service.

The ground beneath the memorial

The park's geology is young: Quaternary marsh deposits, raised carbonate sand and artificial fill, surrounded by sedimentary rock of the Miocene Tagpochau Limestone.

• A rare wetland. The park holds a 12-hectare (30-acre) wetland of mudflats, marshes and mangroves — habitat that has become scarce in the Northern Marianas. It is home to endangered plants and animals, among them the Nightingale Reed-warbler, and is an important stop for migratory birds.
• Micro Beach. Along the park's western edge, Micro Beach is one of Saipan's best white sand beaches, made mostly of carbonate sand. It is significant to the Carolinian people as the place where early settlers landed when they came to Saipan, and where elders taught the young traditional navigation and burial rituals.

Part of the park's digital geologic map. National Park Service, Geologic Resources Inventory.

The NPS Geologic Resources Inventory's map and report for the park are available through the NPS DataStore.

Sources

• National Park Service: "NPS Geodiversity Atlas—American Memorial Park, Northern Mariana Islands," citing National Park Service (2017). An uncaptioned beach photograph on the atlas page, which does not appear to show Saipan, is not reproduced.