Mid-Pacific Research Laboratory

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The Mid-Pacific Research Laboratory was a marine research facility located in a former US Coast Guard LORAN station on the northern tip of Enewetak Island, part of the Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands. [1] It was opened in 1952, when it was called the Eniwetok Marine Biological Laboratory, [2] on the island of Medren, [3] and in the early part of its operation, it was typically staffed and active when nuclear testing by the United States was being carried out. [1] In the years following the end of nuclear testing in 1958, the facility was moved to Enewetak Island, [3] where it was still staffed for only part of the year until 1974, when it gained full-time research staff. In 1979, its name was changed to the Mid-Pacific Research Laboratory. [1] Research carried out at the lab included studies on energy relationships, symbiosis, colonization of the land by marine organisms, metabolic adaptations of marine organisms, and taxonomy. [2] The lab was funded by the University of Hawaii and the US Department of Energy [1] The laboratory was closed down after the Department of Energy ceased funding it in 1983, [1] although research was still carried out for some years afterwards with alternative sponsorships. [3]

Enewetak map Enewetak map.png
Enewetak map

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Mid-Pacific Research Lab". Kwaj Underwater. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  2. 1 2 Robert W. Hiatt (1966). "Eniwetok Marine Biological Laboratory" (PDF). Micronesia. 2: 265–267. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 "Chapter3: The First Fifty Years of Marine Research at UH: 1907 to 1957" (PDF). School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology University of Hawaii. Retrieved 19 August 2018.