And they said they're not making land anymore......

And I thought this was going to be another story about Dubai. :loco:
 
Does anyone else remember Surtsey?










I mean, when it was formed... it's still there!
 
The really amazing part is that in 10-20 years it will be absolutely teeming with plant and animal life. Almost magic how that happens.
 
bullwinkle said:
The really amazing part is that in 10-20 years it will be absolutely teeming with plant and animal life. Almost magic how that happens.
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Marine life, most likely. Depending on what the surface is made of, it might erode away in months to a few years. Tephra, in particular, is very easily washed away. Even Surtsey is a lot smaller now than when it was first formed.
 
azure said:
Does anyone else remember Surtsey?





















I mean, when it was formed... it's still there!
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Wasn't it formed in the early 1960s? Weirdly I can remember my father talking about Surtsey when I was a little kid. Haven't thought about it in just about that long.
 
Everskyward said:
Wasn't it formed in the early 1960s? Weirdly I can remember my father talking about Surtsey when I was a little kid. Haven't thought about it in just about that long.
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According to the Wikipedia article, Surtsey first formed in November 1963 and continued to grow through the mid '60s. I remember it because it was still in the news by the time I was old enough to pay attention to the news ;) (plus, even as a kid I was something of a science geek) I think it may have been featured in a National Geographic special as well.
 
This isn't the 1st time for Hunga. Last year the island did break sea surface where it remained for several weeks to vanish until now. A transient sailor did go ashore and put up videos on YT about it.

Several years ago - circa 2009, I think - RCCNZ aircraft spotted long white streaks on the ocean. They couldn't figure out what they were seeing until surface ships investigated the several hard to track free floating masses of pumice. Still, they were uncertain of it's origin since by the time the ships had found the pumice they had drifted quite a distance from Tonga.

Of course Loihi, the new island SE of the big island of Hawaii has been quietly forming. IIRC, it did break sea surface for a brief time in the last decade. Given that Loihi is 3,000 feet below the sea surface I guess I was incorrect in thinking it broke the surface. Maybe what I recall is a large debris field from an undersea eruption.

As he also participated in salvage for the USN, my dad did briefly venture to Surtsey during it's formation in the early 60s.

None of this is 'new' land. It's just recycled.

Wait until Yellowstone exhales.
 
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From the looks of it though, it won't stay long unless the manage to get it planted with some cover. If they can get something to grow and form a root network, they may be able to stabilize it, but I doubt that's in the cards. Otherwise it looks like it's eroding very quickly. This isn't lava that solidifies on cooling like in Hawaii. This stuff will take a long time to form a sedimentary stone.
 
OkieFlyer said:
I'm just concerned that the guy on the left is not wearing pants. :eek:
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:confused: Pants are not required by nature in Tonga, and in that culture are optional if you want. Lots of westerners wear banana hammocks in the SoPac.
Not sure why it should worry you though.:dunno:
 
Wouldn't want to live there.

Nope.

Don't want to live anywhere that just blows up and turns into a boiling cauldron of lava and ash...:nonod:
 
txflyer said:
Wouldn't want to live there.

Nope.

Don't want to live anywhere that just blows up and turns into a boiling cauldron of lava and ash...:nonod:
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It's okay when you're on a boat. I was passing Krakatowa once when it belched, that was pretty cool because it spits Volkswagon sized glowing wads of lava in the air. Really cool at night.
 
Henning said:
It's okay when you're on a boat. I was passing Krakatowa once when it belched, that was pretty cool because it spits Volkswagon sized glowing wads of lava in the air. Really cool at night.
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BuuullSh.....!

If I'm ever in a boat near a mountain that burps, we're gonna go ludicrous speed directly away from that mother......!

There are little things called Tsunami's and paraclastic flows that can ruin your day. :yikes:
 
Henning said:
From the looks of it though, it won't stay long unless the manage to get it planted with some cover. If they can get something to grow and form a root network, they may be able to stabilize it, but I doubt that's in the cards. Otherwise it looks like it's eroding very quickly. This isn't lava that solidifies on cooling like in Hawaii. This stuff will take a long time to form a sedimentary stone.
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'they' aren't going to do anything of the kind. The land has to cool. The Ph of the water and ground has to become less acidic. How many million gallon buckets of rain will that take?

The scoria type pyroclastic accumulation is still unstable.
 
txflyer said:
BuuullSh.....!

If I'm ever in a boat near a mountain that burps, we're gonna go ludicrous speed directly away from that mother......!

There are little things called Tsunami's and paraclastic flows that can ruin your day. :yikes:
Click to expand...

There were some sailor blogs written from boats in the area who said they had to leave the harbor (I do not remember which harbor) because the floating pumice was real bad for their hulls. Then they gave a very wide berth off from the area where the volcanic activity was occurring.

I guess it would be kinda neat to be sailing that area when she hiccups. That is if you don't mind swamping in a swirling gas bubble with heated toxic fumes. I'm talking of Hunga here. IIRC, last year there was a charter boat running sight seeing trips to the area.

My brother has a few hand sized volcanic bombs he's collected from various active volcanoes. Their aerodynamic shapes are clearly evident.
 
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txflyer said:
BuuullSh.....!

If I'm ever in a boat near a mountain that burps, we're gonna go ludicrous speed directly away from that mother......!

There are little things called Tsunami's and paraclastic flows that can ruin your day. :yikes:
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Not in deep water, you don't feel a tsunami until you get up in shallow water. Pyroclastic flow is what that island is, and it will wash away in a few storms.
 
Richard said:
'they' aren't going to do anything of the kind. The land has to cool. The Ph of the water and ground has to become less acidic. How many million gallon buckets of rain will that take?

The scoria type pyroclastic accumulation is still unstable.
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That's what I was saying, it's not going to happen. It's not really "new land" because it's not going to be there long enough to support anything.
 
Henning said:
Not in deep water, you don't feel a tsunami until you get up in shallow water. Pyroclastic flow is what that island is, and it will wash away in a few storms.
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I remember reader a first hand account written by the mate on a schooner transiting the area when the daughter of Krakatoa erupted in the late 20th century.

They first noticed the sky lighting up to the east. But it was still too early for the sunrise. The mate sprung into action to clear the decks and secure all openings. While doing that they were hit with the sound wave which he described as a brief gale. The seas were chaotic after that time. Presently they witnessed a foamy wave coming towards them. Once in view the wave seemed to take it's time to reach them.

The wave was not a wall of water but ejecta piled high and the remains of a pyroclastic flow (lahar) which was blown out to sea by the blast. The sea surface was coated with a sticky viscous layer high enough to sweep over the decks of their ship. SOG dropped to near zero for the rest of nearly 4 days. Thankfully they missed most of the ash. One of the harbors they did come into sometime later was nearly buried in ash to the point where it was difficult to distinguish sea surface from land.
 
Henning said:
:confused: Pants are not required by nature in Tonga, and in that culture are optional if you want. Lots of westerners wear banana hammocks in the SoPac.
Not sure why it should worry you though.:dunno:
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Geeze, Henning, I was just trying to be a wise guy. It won't happen again;)
 
Richard said:
There were some sailor blogs written from boats in the area who said they had to leave the harbor (I do not remember which harbor) because the floating pumice was real bad for their hulls. Then they gave a very wide berth off from the area where the volcanic activity was occurring.

I guess it would be kinda neat to be sailing that area when she hiccups. That is if you don't mind swamping in a swirling gas bubble with heated toxic fumes. I'm talking of Hunga here. IIRC, last year there was a charter boat running sight seeing trips to the area.

My brother has a few hand sized volcanic bombs he's collected from various active volcanoes. Their aerodynamic shapes are clearly evident.
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Volcano's are a nice place to visit. :D

I don't want to live anywhere near anything that shakes and spits out molten rock.

Hydrogen Sulfide ... the smell of it in the morning. I love it! :loco:
 
txflyer said:
Volcano's are a nice place to visit. :D

I don't want to live anywhere near anything that shakes and spits out molten rock.

Hydrogen Sulfide ... the smell of it in the morning. I love it! :loco:
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If it's H2S that you don't like smelling, then you better remove your arse :D
 
negroni4.jpg





Oh yeah!, let's go live next to that pretty mountain! ... OMG! WTF IS THAT?

Not me... :nono::nonod:
 
OkieFlyer said:
If it's H2S that you don't like smelling, then you better remove your arse :D
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Naw, just keep smelling it and in just a little while you'll never smell it again!
 
txflyer said:
negroni4.jpg





Oh yeah!, let's go live next to that pretty mountain! ... OMG! WTF IS THAT?

Not me... :nono::nonod:
Click to expand...

Pictures just don't do volcanoes justice, it's like seeing a picture of a Top Fueler instead of standing at the launch box or traps. You dont just see it, you feel it, and it's awesome amounts of energy that charges your whole body just to be near.
 
Volcanoes are part of life. I've had a couple of volcanic eruption experiences in Alaska where we had ash falls that were measurable like snow. What a mess. Corrosive and abrasive ash turns a white winterscape into a charcoal-colored mud pit in a moment. Try to keep your home or your car clean. Impossible. The sky turns from bright light to dark when the black wall of the cloud swallows you. Very strange. Very powerful. Very humbling.

Wife and I were on the Big Island goofing around near Pahoa when Kilauea blew 30 years ago. We parked downslope of the rift and watched a lava fountain that was several hundred feet high for hours. Little ash pellets rained on us but there was no fine ash dust or smell. That event that we were privileged to see has continued uninterrupted for 30 years. It is the longest volcanic eruption in history according to those who know about such things. It's still happening today. For months a flow has threatened Pahoa. We chartered a helicopter and flew the flow area a couple of months ago to say goodbye in case Pahoa is consumed the way Kalapana was in the '90s. Ask the locals who live in harm's way and they shrug and tell you Pele gives and Pele takes away. Life in paradise.

Visit and camp in SW Alaska and you're surrounded by volcanoes. Sit on the lower slopes of a venting volcano and you feel appropriately small. It's good to be reminded every once in awhile.
 
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Yeah, ash is is *****, we got covered for a week in Padang once when the wind kept it on us with no shift. Bloody hell I just kept the fire hose going all week as it eats up the teak decks chemicaly and physically.
 
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