| [00:00.504] | Across the South Pacific, |
| [00:02.037] | time continues to work its magic on rock. |
| [00:05.740] | Millions of years of erosion and sinking have reduced the volcanic mount of Maupiti |
| [00:11.828] | to little more than a hill. |
| [00:13.858] | Eventually, this hill will disappear too. |
| [00:16.729] | And when it does, |
| [00:17.836] | it will look like this - Mataiva, |
| [00:20.830] | a coral atoll. |
| [00:22.610] | Rising above the waves, |
| [00:24.103] | a coral atoll's reef surrounds a shallow lagoon. |
| [00:27.806] | Where there was once a mighty peak, |
| [00:30.560] | now there is only water. |
| [00:33.162] | There are thousands of atolls like Mataiva dotted around the South Pacific, |
| [00:38.091] | their size and shape determined by the original volcano. |
| [00:42.762] | Some atolls are round, their rings unbroken, |
| [00:46.570] | while others have been bent out of shape by ocean currents and earthquakes. |
| [00:51.142] | And a few span huge distances, |
| [00:54.233] | a testament to volcanoes whose size and power were once truly colossal. |
| [01:00.109] | Rangiroa in French Polynesia. |
| [01:02.771] | Over 30 miles wide, |
| [01:04.607] | its lagoon is so large that if you were floating in its centre, |
| [01:07.942] | you wouldn't see land in any direction. |
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