NASAさんのインスタグラム写真 - (NASAInstagram)「“Hello my name is Dan Slayback and I’m a research scientist here at Goddard. This past month I traveled with the @sea_semester’s SSV Robert C. Seamans to Tonga to study Earth’s newest landmass Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai. What an experience. Shortly after the volcanic eruption that constructed this new island began in December 2014, we collected relevant satellite imagery. Based on observations to this point, we expected a relatively rapid and possibly complete disappearance of the new island, perhaps within months or at most a few years. But instead, the island has held on for years! The core goal of these field expeditions is to improve our understanding of the island’s brief evolutionary history and likely future. The island was formed by a surtseyan eruption, which is a relatively modest explosive eruption (compared to say, Mt St Helens or Mt Pinatubo) occurring in shallow waters. They are relatively common along the active Tonga trench. But it is less common for such eruptions to construct stable landmasses that survive for more than a few months. The bird life was particularly active around Hunga Tonga, which appears cut from an exotic island adventure film: mostly sheer cliffs rise up to over 400 feet, facing the black volcanic cone (which you could readily imagine emitting a column of smoke), and draped in thick tropical greenery.” For more, click the link in our bio! 📷: SEA/ NASA」11月5日 0時21分