Mount Tapochau is the highest point on the island of Saipan

Saipan

Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...

 in the Northern Mariana Islands

Northern Mariana Islands

The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is a commonwealth in political union with the United States, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines...

. It is located in the centre of the island, north of San Vicente

San Vicente, Saipan

San Vicente is a village on Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. it is located close to the shore of Magicienne Bay, to the south of the island's highest point, Mount Tagpochau. It is connected via the cross-island road to Susupe in the west and with Capital Hill and Tanapag to the north....

 village and northwest of Magicienne Bay

Magicienne Bay

Magicienne Bay, also known as Laulau Bay, is a large bay on the southeast of the island Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. It covers nearly one sixth of the island's east coast, from Saipan International Airport in the south to the popular, yet isolated, Laulau Beach in the north. The village...

, and rises to a height of 474 m (1554 ft). The mountain offers a 360 degree view of the island. Mount Tapochau was vital in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 as a result of this.

Geology

The base of Mount Tapochau is covered with phosphate

Phosphate

A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...

, manganese

Manganese

Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...

 ore

Ore

An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....

, sulphur, and coral

Coral

Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...

 limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

. The peak is also a limestone formation.