Tonga volcano

[David B]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j6VD1Pdx9mNNXjovtdfyKtB2WXVQ

This is looking pretty big. I wonder how long it will last, and how much new land will form.

It's wiped out vegetation and bird life, so it will be interesting to see how quickly things get re-established after the eruption stops.

David

[Izmir Stinger]

Vegetation should return almost immediately and with a vengeance; igneous rock ash is an excellent fertilizer. Don't know how long the rest of the food chain will take to return. It is an island after all.

[David B]

Vegetation should return almost immediately and with a vengeance; igneous rock ash is an excellent fertilizer. Don't know how long the rest of the food chain will take to return. It is an island after all.

There doesn't seem to have been much animal life on it before other than seabirds.

It's more isolated than Anak Krakatau or Surtsey.

Still, spiders should fly in, and wind born seeds, and those water born seeds which survive the trip.

[Izmir Stinger]

I remember from watching the Planet Earth documentary series (to break in my new Blu-Ray player), there are a number of different species of sea birds that use a Pacific island, and only one island, as their nesting ground. If Tonga was one such island, this was an extinction event. :dunno:

[RAFH]

Vegetation should return almost immediately and with a vengeance; igneous rock ash is an excellent fertilizer. Don't know how long the rest of the food chain will take to return. It is an island after all.

There doesn't seem to have been much animal life on it before other than seabirds.

It's more isolated than Anak Krakatau or Surtsey.

Still, spiders should fly in, and wind born seeds, and those water born seeds which survive the trip.

Actually, it's not that isolated, though Tonga itself is out in the middle of nowhere. I believe it's only a couple of kilometers off the larger island of Tongatapu, which is the capital of Tonga.

So once things calm down a bit, it will be recolonized quickly.

Surtsey is really out in the middle of nowhere off the coast of Iceland. Something like 20 km off Vestmann Islands and about 30 km off Iceland itself.

[DMB]

I have to put in a plug for Iceland. It's a fascinating place to visit if you want to see impressive glaciers and volcanic activity. See Volcanism in Iceland. I know it's stupid, but I got my husband to take a photo of me with one foot on the Eurasian plate and one on the North American plate.

[Pendaric]

. I know it's stupid, but I got my husband to take a photo of me with one foot on the Eurasian plate and one on the North American plate.

I think that's pretty cool actually. Didn't realise they could pinpoint the edges of the plates that accurately.

[RAFH]

. I know it's stupid, but I got my husband to take a photo of me with one foot on the Eurasian plate and one on the North American plate.

I think that's pretty cool actually. Didn't realise they could pinpoint the edges of the plates that accurately.

If I'm right, DMB is referring to a place called the Thing. Really. It's the source of the word thing. It's where the early Icelanders met to discuss things. Sort of an informal, once a year legislature.

[DMB]

. I know it's stupid, but I got my husband to take a photo of me with one foot on the Eurasian plate and one on the North American plate.

I think that's pretty cool actually. Didn't realise they could pinpoint the edges of the plates that accurately.

If I'm right, DMB is referring to a place called the Thing. Really. It's the source of the word thing. It's where the early Icelanders met to discuss things. Sort of an informal, once a year legislature.

Yes. See Þingvellir.
They call it the Grandmother of Parliaments (a dig at the English, who call their parliament the Mother of Parliaments).

[lpetrich]

The Icelandic word is a cognate of the English word "thing", as German "ding" is -- not an ancestor. All three languages inherited it from their Proto-Germanic ancestor.

Some time I ought to discuss historical linguistics and what one can learn from it; I've long been interested in that subject.

[kazzaqld]

I have to put in a plug for Iceland. It's a fascinating place to visit if you want to see impressive glaciers and volcanic activity. See Volcanism in Iceland. I know it's stupid, but I got my husband to take a photo of me with one foot on the Eurasian plate and one on the North American plate.

I've long wanted to go to Iceland - one day I will! I'd love to do this! :D

[Jobar]

I've read that Iceland would be a good place to go to survive a nuclear war. Lots of their power is geothermal, and so it doesn't need imported fuels like some places; not many targets; and far enough away from places that would be heavily nuked that fallout would be survivable. And in the event of a nuclear winter, the Icelanders are prepared to handle extreme cold anyway.

[kazzaqld]

One of the avatars I use is a picture of an active volcano in Vanuatu which my son and I climbed in 2004 - I didn't take the picture myself but another in our party did.

It's one of the things I'm most proud of myself for having done! :cool:

[Notta]

The Icelandic word is a cognate of the English word "thing", as German "ding" is -- not an ancestor. All three languages inherited it from their Proto-Germanic ancestor.

Some time I ought to discuss historical linguistics and what one can learn from it; I've long been interested in that subject.
You could invite Dave Hawkins to discuss the development of the Portuguese language with you. Now that's an interesting topic!

[Berthold]

I've read that Iceland would be a good place to go to survive a nuclear war. Lots of their power is geothermal, and so it doesn't need imported fuels like some places; not many targets; and far enough away from places that would be heavily nuked that fallout would be survivable. And in the event of a nuclear winter, the Icelanders are prepared to handle extreme cold anyway.
Fred Pohl used this idea in a story. Reprinted in this (http://www.amazon.com/Platinum-Pohl-Collected-Stories-Associates/dp/0312875274) anthology.

From a review:
Who else would have thought to point out that Iceland is the best equipped place in the world to survive a nuclear winter?
:D