Volcano of the Week #12 - Mount Erebus

This volcano was an answer on University Challenge this week (an episode I am yet to watch) which according to my muumy is a good enough reason to for it to be volcano of the week.

Being in Antarctica, Erebus is the most southerly active volcano, it has been constantly active since 1972 and was also active on discovery in 1841 by Henry Peake. The volcano was named after Peake's ship which is named after the Greek God, who represented all darkness and shadow (the child of chaos and darkness).  It wasn't until 1908 that its peak was climbed by Ernest Shackleton, I'm sure avid google logo fans will know it was his birthday a few days ago. The volcano is similar to Etna in some respects as they are both stratovolcanoes with stratocones and eruptions tend to be strombolian. The volcano is 3,794 m high, its phonolitic lava lake is among the longest lasting on Earth and Erebus crystals can be found on its slopes. 

 Penguin and a volcano!

Once again we find a link between volcanoes and air disasters however this time not due to pyroclastic debris in the air (or natures sandblaster). On a sightseeing flight from New Zealand over Antarctica a plane crashed into the volcano and all 257 people on the plane were killed. The crash was due to the coordinates of the flight being changed and the crew not being told (or something similar). The recovery and identification of the bodies was a particularly distressing ordeal. 

Volcano of the week always ends being quite a sad feature I would try and rectify it but it is really the nature of volcanoes. 

Lava Soap and Volcano Puns

I have just been informed of lava soap which is from the makers of WD40, enough of an endorsement for anything. Anyway I got told about this amazing soap and given some amazing puns by Mary Gray. Here are the puns and pictures of the soap which is pretty cool and I really want some. 

Valentine, You Kick Ash!

 

I Pumice to be Your Valentine!

Valentine, You Rock!

Valentine, I'll Never Take You for Granite!

It's True Lava for Us, Valentine!

Valentine, You Set My World on Fire!

My Heart is on Fire for You, Valentine!

Valentine, You are Really Gneiss!

Volcano of the Week #11 - Poas

Costa Rica is a country full of beautiful and powerful volcanoes due to the 'crumple zone' caused by the meeting of the North American Plate and the South American Plate. It is also a country that I've been to, well San Jose airport (which counts) and while trying to avoid weird Americans on missions, I do remember that it was very beautiful and surrounded by large hills. According to googlemaps Poas is 43 mins away from San Jose by car, apparently you can't walk there, this stratovolcano is 2,708m high and pretty active; it erupted in December. The volcanoes proximity to the epicentre of the 2009 earthquake caused new fractures to open up in the volcano and an increase in fumarole (gas) activity. In January 2010 the increase in geothermal activity saw a Phreatic eruption occur, which is basically a steam explosion and occurred in one of Poas crater lakes. The largest is the aptly named Laguna Caliente where vents reach up to 800 degrees Celsius. The warm water (50 degrees) and the stunning views may make you think that this is lake is an ideal place for a bath, however your skin would probably fall off because this lake is extremely acidic with a pH close to zero. Sadly a side effect of this is that there is a lot of acid rain in the region which can damage ecosystems. The other lake is located in an inactive crater and surrounded by a could forest so maybe a better place for a swim. 

The picture that made me want to write about Poas.          Laguna Caliente
(both from Earth on Fire, my fave book in the world apart from War and Peace and Comet in Moominland)

Right I'm going to bathe in acid and eat a creme egg and maybe do some origami.
p.s sorry for lack of volcanic activity but have just started a new job.

Shinmoedake erupts!

Japanese volcanoes seem to be the theme of the year so its perhaps unsurprising that Shinmoedake in Kyūshū is currently erupting (well unsurprising if you think that natural disasters are directly linked to my life, clearly I do). The volcano is in the range Mount Kirishima, the eruption began on the 19th January the alert level has been raised to 3 which means houses have been evacuated and flights have been suspended. Among the affected are Australians travelling to Bali- believe me, there is NO ONE I feel for more. The range is located in Kyushu, the third largest and most south westerly of Japan's islands. More updates as this story and eruption develops.

Volcano of the Week #10- Mount Etna

Etna is Europe's most active volcano and the second largest after Teide in Tenerife. This Sicilian stratovolcano is 3,328m high and is almost constantly active, eruptions tend to have a VEI of 1 or 2. It is a decade volcano and despite today's gentle eruption it has reeked havoc in the past, a Plinian eruption was thought to have occurred in 122BC which caused roof collapses in Catania (Sicily's second city). Etna's most violent eruption killed around 15,000 in Catania on 11th Marck 1669, the only violent eruption since then was in 1928, the village of Mascali was completely destroyed and only a church was left standing. Further tragedy followed this event as Mussolini used rebuilding the village as an exercise in fascist propaganda and the newly built church had a fascist symbol placed above Jesus Christ. Although recent eruptions have not caused much damage to the island they have destroyed the Etna Observatory and other towns have narrowly missed volcanic destruction, the 2001 eruption was particularly violent. The most recent eruption occurred earlier this year on 13th January causing airport closure but no damage to inhabited areas. Etna's summit has four craters, numerous cinder cones and fissure vents around which yellow sulphur crusts can be seen. The soils at the base of Etna are extremely fertile and home to orchards and vineyards.

Etna's four craters 

 Etna's Strombolian eruption in February 1998

Both from Bernhard Edmaier's 'Earth on Fire'

 

In addition to magma Etna is also home to Typhon, the monster of all monsters in Greek mythology. He has a human upper half which reaches the stars, his hands contain a hundred dragons head, the lower half of his body is made from viper coils and his whole body is covered in wings. Along with Hades, Gaia and Demeter he is a chthonic (underworld) figure. One day Typhon went a bit mental and had a fight with Zeus which caused earthquakes and tsunamis, finally Zeus laced Etna on top of Typhon and trapped him there. Typhon is therefore the cause of all volcanic eruptions. 

In non volcanic news Happy Birthday to my mummy, Vic Reeves and Nastassja Kinski.

Volcano Flag

As I am now unemployed I thought that learning all the flags of the world would be a good use of time, so far I've got Europe, South America and North America down. Think Africa will be the hardest although the rise of African football teams should make this a bit better, sporcle is obviously the main facilitator of this quest. So I began thinking that it would be great if a flag had a volcano on as picture flags (Lebanon, Sri Lanka) are often the best. I did find a great flag, it is the unofficial flag for Reunion, a French island in the Indian Ocean, which I have written about before.

 The official Reunion flag also has a volcano on but its shit. This flag was created through a competition run by the French Society of Vexillology (flag study) so they obviously agree the official one is shit.

 Also Etna's erupting again, following many conversations at the pub over the weekend, I've realised I don't know much about Etna, which I'll rectify soon.

Please vote for your favourite volcano at the right of the page.

Volcano of the Week #9- Mount Fuji

It has been a while since I've done this feature some would say too long, some would say not long enough and most were probably blissfully unaware that it ever was a feature. I thought I'd write about what (for reasons that I am about to describe) is fast becoming my favourite volcano, you can vote for your favouritcano at the link at the side. My love of Mount Fuji has started partly because I got two Christmas presents relating to it (boxcano and diarycano, see the post a couple down) and is probably after Vesuvius the most common volcano in popular culture. The most famous representations of Mount Fuji are two series both called Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji by Hokusai (boxcano) and Hiroshige (diarycano), if this is making sense to anyone I'll be impressed. Below is an image from each of those series. 

 Hokusai- The Great Wave. Which is apparently the best painting ever, obviously after Rolf Harris' portrait of The Queen

Twilight Hill- Hiroshige (the other chap)

Fuji is a stratovolcano which is 60 miles outside Tokyo so overlooks the city, making it such a prominent feature in Japanese culture. At 3,776m it's Japan's highest point, it's last eruption was in 1707. The Aokigahara forest at the base of Fuji is surrounded by myths of supernatural beings and in recent times it's gained a reputation as the world's second most popular suicide site after Golden Gate Bridge. The forest is incredibly dense, the floor consists of hard volcanic rock and has signs urging potential suicidees to reconsider. The trees are mainly white cedar, pine and boxwood. I guess there are pro and cons to the volcanic soil and amazing flora there but all I can find out about is suicides so if anyone who has like a degree in Plant Science wants to tell me about the flora that'd be great. The younger Fuji was formed mainly between 11,000 to 8,000 years ago, flank vents were formed between 2000 and 3000 years ago, the 1707 eruption created a new crater. 

Aokigahara Forest

 Massively Japanese