Birth of an island

[glenc]

Tonga in August

"At first it looked like an ugly oil slick.
But as they crew of the yacht Maiken sailed closer to a brown patch on the ocean near Tonga they realised they were observing something far rarer and far more beautiful.
What looked like a brown stain on the South Pacific turned out to be a spectacular drift of floating pumice stones stretching more than 16 km - and an indication an island was being born nearby.
After navigating a course towards steam clouds on the horizon, the crew of the yacht was treated to the sight of lava spewing up from the ocean to create new land where previously there had been none.
One of the few people to witness first hand volcanic activity creating an island, crew member Frederik Fransson last week told of his experience (http://yacht-maiken.blogspot.com/2006/08/stone-sea-and-volcano.html) during a stop-over in Brisbane..."
http://blogs.smh.com.au/science/archives/2006/12/post_3.html

More pictures are at:
http://yacht-maiken.blogspot.com/2006/08/stone-sea-and-volcano.html

[[1ponders]]

Wow, that would be so cool to see!

Thanks Glen

[stephenmcnelley]

My goodness Glen, are you permanently wired... it is a worry...LOL

I had read of this particular account in a cruising mag article. It does happen, at least the yacht was out of the thermal seawater danger zone and didnt hit an aerated patch and vanish below- this has happened i believe from witness record accounts.

[h0ughy]

wow that is truely amazing

[ballaratdragons]

WoW! They are amazing photos!!! The birth of an island. :thumbsup:

I wonder how long it will be before McDonalds plop a restaurant on it! :lol:
It will become a tourist spectacle! Gotta feed the masses.

[jjjnettie]

How fantastically fortunate they were to be there. I love our living planet.

Puts me in mind of that farmer in Mexico I think it was, who was ploughing his field and came upon a steamy patch. In the next few months his corn field became a fully fledged volcano.

[Ric]

Thanks for the links Glen, what an awesome event to witness and to be the first as well. Those people are so lucky and as a Geo myself I certainly got a buzz from those pictures.
Nature is certainly awesome.

Cheers

[xstream]

What a truly amazing spectacle it would of been to witness.

Thanks Glen.

[spacezebra]

How cool. What an event to capture.

Cheers Petra

[GrahamL]

great stuff glen,
stephan volcanos sure can spell trouble for anyone nearby
A friend many years ago anchored in a quiet lagoon to do a little maintenace on his motor the weather was clear .. unknown to him a volcano on the otherside of the island was about to have a major burp through the night it spat out a lot of steam .. the super hot air shooting skywards dragged in air from all directions .. my friend awaoke at 3 am
to 100 mph onshore winds with a dismantled motor.. by chance he was blown ashore on the only half mile of sandy beach the island had .!!

[stephenmcnelley]

OMG, you would feel absolutely terrified and helpless wouldnt you..

Nature is awesome and impartial isnt it, and it lets us get away with ignoring it sometimes too for a bit before we get a wake up call. The whole globe is like a living breathing entity in so many ways.