Dynamic! (dy•nam•ic) adj 1. full of energy, enthusiasm, and a sense of purpose and able both to get things going and to get things done 2. characterized by vigorous activity and producing or undergoing change and development 3. involving or relating to energy and forces that produce motion.
Today, above and below the sea, we experienced the dynamism of Vanuatu. These young volcanic islands, strung along the tectonic boundary where the Pacific Plate is subducting beneath the northeastern margin of the Australian Plate, are very dynamic indeed. Still growing through violent eruptions, the islands are surrounded by ever changing coral reefs and inhabited by energetic people who are very much involved in changes and development of their own.
We began our day by setting up the snorkeling platform over the shallows close to the sea cliffs of Aniwa Island. While the divers explored the deeper waters, the glass-bottom boat cruised the bright, clear seas close to shore and the snorkelers drifted over the reef, all of us delighted by the numbers and variety of beautiful fish and corals, including the rare Flame Angelfish. Beneath all the activity of the fish we could detect a slower, ages long dynamism of the reefs themselves. The reefs here are young and very close to the shore, reflecting the youthful age of the islands that support them. Eventually the volcanoes will grow large enough to subside back into the mantle under their own weight, and as they do the reefs will grow upwards into atoll rings surrounding lagoons like those we saw in Papua New Guinea. The divers saw clear evidence of this early stage of development when they swam past steep, crenellated walls of eroded volcanic rock, the foundation of the new island, as of yet decorated with only a few corals.
In the afternoon, we landed on the nearby island of Tanna for a chance to visit Yasur volcano and witness the dynamics of island building firsthand. This was real expedition travel; we climbed into small pickup trucks and clung to whatever handholds were within reach while we raced along a dirt track that grew increasingly tenuous as we climbed toward the active vent. After a short, steep hike we arrived at the rim of the crater and looked down over a narrow bench into a yawning, figure-eight-shaped chasm. Very soon we were thrilled by a loud explosion and saw a few small, glowing lava bombs arc up out of the vent!
While we settled in to watch from a high point or hiked along the rim for a changing perspective, the explosions continued every few minutes. Small burps threw up a few glowing rocks quite regularly and several times much larger eruptions sent dozens or hundreds of spinning globs of lava spraying upward on long parabolas that rose high above the rim where we stood and then fell to spatter the ground in the crater not far below us! At first the scale of the scene made these bits of lava look quite small, but by looking across the crater to other groups of spectators we soon realized that each bomb averaged at least as big as a person and some were the size of cars and trucks! As night slowly fell and the brilliant red bursts continued, accompanied by the deep thunder of the volcano’s throat, we stood in awe, feeling that we were witnessing the dynamics of our planet and the islands of Melanesia as never before.
Today, above and below the sea, we experienced the dynamism of Vanuatu. These young volcanic islands, strung along the tectonic boundary where the Pacific Plate is subducting beneath the northeastern margin of the Australian Plate, are very dynamic indeed. Still growing through violent eruptions, the islands are surrounded by ever changing coral reefs and inhabited by energetic people who are very much involved in changes and development of their own.
We began our day by setting up the snorkeling platform over the shallows close to the sea cliffs of Aniwa Island. While the divers explored the deeper waters, the glass-bottom boat cruised the bright, clear seas close to shore and the snorkelers drifted over the reef, all of us delighted by the numbers and variety of beautiful fish and corals, including the rare Flame Angelfish. Beneath all the activity of the fish we could detect a slower, ages long dynamism of the reefs themselves. The reefs here are young and very close to the shore, reflecting the youthful age of the islands that support them. Eventually the volcanoes will grow large enough to subside back into the mantle under their own weight, and as they do the reefs will grow upwards into atoll rings surrounding lagoons like those we saw in Papua New Guinea. The divers saw clear evidence of this early stage of development when they swam past steep, crenellated walls of eroded volcanic rock, the foundation of the new island, as of yet decorated with only a few corals.
In the afternoon, we landed on the nearby island of Tanna for a chance to visit Yasur volcano and witness the dynamics of island building firsthand. This was real expedition travel; we climbed into small pickup trucks and clung to whatever handholds were within reach while we raced along a dirt track that grew increasingly tenuous as we climbed toward the active vent. After a short, steep hike we arrived at the rim of the crater and looked down over a narrow bench into a yawning, figure-eight-shaped chasm. Very soon we were thrilled by a loud explosion and saw a few small, glowing lava bombs arc up out of the vent!
While we settled in to watch from a high point or hiked along the rim for a changing perspective, the explosions continued every few minutes. Small burps threw up a few glowing rocks quite regularly and several times much larger eruptions sent dozens or hundreds of spinning globs of lava spraying upward on long parabolas that rose high above the rim where we stood and then fell to spatter the ground in the crater not far below us! At first the scale of the scene made these bits of lava look quite small, but by looking across the crater to other groups of spectators we soon realized that each bomb averaged at least as big as a person and some were the size of cars and trucks! As night slowly fell and the brilliant red bursts continued, accompanied by the deep thunder of the volcano’s throat, we stood in awe, feeling that we were witnessing the dynamics of our planet and the islands of Melanesia as never before.
