Posted on 07/11/2004 6:11:43 PM PDT by blam
Threatening volcanic child of Krakatoa keeps its powder dry
By Sebastien Berger at Anak Krakatau
(Filed: 12/07/2004)
At 74, the offspring of the world's most famous volcano is newborn in geological terms. But, rising darkly from the sea, Anak Krakatau - "the child of Krakatoa" - is already 1,000ft high and smoking.
Wisps of steam and toxic fumes drift gently from several vents at its summit, where its otherwise black walls are stained with white mineral deposits.
Its setting is idyllic, nestling between three other outcrops in the middle of the Sunda Strait between the major Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra.
But it sits on top of a fissure in the Earth's crust responsible for the most devastating volcanic eruption in recorded history.
However, Kusni is more interested in the contents of the waters around it. He is "about 60" years old - he says he is not sure - and has been fishing around Anak Krakatau for decades.
"It is just normal," he says. "There is nothing really special about it."
Kusni, his son-in-law, son and nephew spend four days at a time line-fishing on their boat Sumber, an open, rickety wooden craft about 20ft long. They hope to catch about 40 fish per trip, averaging about 9lb each.
When their catch is auctioned in their home port of Carita, 30 miles away on the Javan coast, they can hope to make as much as £300 if it is made up of red and white snapper.
Less sought after fish would earn only about £40 to share among them.
Kusni has seen boulders the width of his boat hurled from the volcano, the summit on fire and the sea covered in pieces of porous pumice. "I am not afraid of anything," he says. "I have a family to feed."
His son-in-law, Sadi, 36, indicates the boat's position about 200 yards off the volcano's northern shore.
"Sometimes when the flames are coming out, the stones will come all the way to here," he says. "But as long as there are fish we are not worried."
Anak Krakatau last erupted three years ago and the resulting lava flow, a bare, black moonscape, has increased the size of the island by about 200 yards to the east.
Isya, an engineer who leads the national monitoring programme of the Volcanological Survey of Indonesia, says that two or three more eruptions will join Anak Krakatau to the neighbouring island of Panjang, when its geology will change unpredictably.
The Krakatoa that destroyed itself in 1883 had joined up with Rakata, another of the surrounding islands and had been calm for centuries.
In just over 20 hours the 2,600ft mountain ceased to exist, six cubic miles of rock and ash were sent as high as 30 miles into the atmosphere and 36,417 people were killed, mostly by four enormous tsunami caused by the volcano.
The sound of the explosions was heard on the island of Rodriguez on the other side of the Indian Ocean 2,968 miles away, where it was described as "heavy guns to eastward".
The shock wave passed around the world seven times.
For now, barring a major tectonic earthquake, Anak Krakatau will remain active at a low level, Dr Isya says. But he has a warning for the people who make their living there: "The longer a volcano remains dormant the bigger the possibility of having a major eruption."
Nah. The acid/ash layer in the ice core samples indicate that the 535AD eruption was minor and was not sufficent to cause the Dark Ages. It was a comet that plunged onto the Celtic Sea that caused the Dark Ages.
Someone did the calculations and determined that the plume from the Thera eruption in 1628BC would have to be 30 miles high for the Jews of Exodus to have seen it.
The last Pinatubo eruption plume was 26 miles high.
Cool read... thanks.
I think the absence of fish is merely a sign of them not getting paid. While they're catching 'em, they're happy regardless of the volcano. That's how I took it.
Source?
Anak Krakatau is a product of Krakatau not taking her earth control pills.
When questioned about working alone on or under water in less than optimal conditions,my answer would always be;family's gotta eat,when the goin' gets rough the rough get goin',etc.
These fishermen live a dangerous life.It just goes with the territory and they have to be self-reliant.
Another theory, as to why the medival period was known as the 'Dark Ages':
It is very simple, there were so many knights. :-)
Hmmm. I must be going blind. I can't find the referemce to the Celtic Sea impact.
It's contained in this book, Exodus To Arthur by Professor Mike Baillie.
BTW, Mike Baillie and astronomer Mark Bailey arrived at the Celtic Sea impact independently.
Ah! Thanks! I can always depend on you to know your sources. (Something I'm weak at).
If it were to blow----it would be Bush's fault!
United Press International
Costa Rica's Arenal volcano, one of the Central American country's key tourist attractions, has erupted, local media reported Thursday.
Arenal, located about 90 miles (150 kilometers) north of San Jose, the capital, erupted on Tuesday evening, sending lava flowing down one side of its summit and prompting the National Emergency Commission, or CNE, to issue warnings about further eruptions and prepare evacuation orders for nearby residents.
Although no fresh eruptions have occurred since Tuesday, the CNE has forbidden people from approaching Arenal in an effort to highlight the potential danger to tourists.
Arenal is one of the youngest volcanoes in the Western Hemisphere, but it had not erupted in historic time, scientists said, until July 1968. Then, an explosive eruption produced hot avalanches and ejected blocks that devastated the west flank of the volcano and killed 78 people.
Arenal has been continuously active since then.
Thanks for the input. It's not on The Ring Of Fire and they don't seem as intense.
I imagine they've temporarily closed it during this eruption but it is an experience of a lifetime to be lying in one of the pools looking up at an active volcano in the middle of the rainforest.
Sounds great. Also, I misread the location...I thought it was Puerto Rico.
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