Knox Atoll Knox Atoll Knox Atoll (Marshallese: , ) is an uninhabited coral atoll of 18 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and is the southernmost atoll of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. The total land area is only , but it encloses a largely sand-filled lagoon with an area of . The atoll measures in length and is wide. The largest islets, located on the western and northern sides, include Aelingeo, Nadikdik and Nariktal. The atoll is separated by the Klee Passage from the southern point of Mili Atoll to which it was once connected. Knox Atoll was claimed by
Enewetak Atoll cold war; in 1977–1980, a concrete dome (the Runit Dome) was built on Runit Island to deposit radioactive soil and debris. The Runit Dome is deteriorating and could be breached by a typhoon, though the sediments in the lagoon are even more radioactive than those which are contained. The U.S. government referred to the atoll as "Eniwetok" until 1974, when it changed its official spelling to "Enewetak" (along with many other Marshall Islands place names, to more properly reflect their pronunciation by the Marshall Islanders). Enewetak Atoll formed atop a seamount. The seamount was formed in the late Cretaceous. This