Weird rock ‘ice-shelf’ floating in Pacific
August 12th, 2012 - 5:00 pm ICT by IANSLondon, Aug 12 (IANS) A gigantic cluster of floating volcanic rocks, made up of lightweight pumice expelled from an underwater volcano and spread over 26,000 sq km, has been spotted drifting in the Pacific.
A New Zealand air force plane spotted the rocks Thursday about 1,000 km offshore from New Zealand and warned a navy warship in the area.
The weird phenomenon, which witnesses described as resembling a polar ice-shelf, was made up of lightweight pumice expelled from an underwater volcano, the New Zealand navy said.
Lieutenant Tim Oscar said while he knew his ship the HMNZS Canterbury was in no danger, it was still the weirdest thing he’s seen in 18 years at sea, the Daily Mail reports.
“As far ahead as I could observe was a raft of pumice moving up and down with the swell.
“The rock looked to be sitting two foot above the surface of the waves and lit up a brilliant while colour in the spotlight. It looked exactly like the edge of an ice shelf,” Oscar said.
Scientists aboard the ship said the pumice probably came from an underwater volcano called Monowai, which has been active recently.
- Volcanic eruptions serve to sustain reefs - Jul 24, 2012
- Dormant undersea volcano near Kalpakkam atomic plant? - Sep 18, 2012
- Strong currents accelerate Antarctic ice melt - Jun 27, 2011
- Experts warn of another ash volcano in Iceland - Feb 10, 2011
- Salvaging of grounded ship off Mumbai to resume Sunday - Jun 18, 2011
- Will ensure Pavit incident does not happen again: Navy chief (Lead) - Aug 20, 2011
- Drilling project to reveal climate change in Antarctic - Jan 29, 2010
- City-sized iceberg heading towards Australia - Dec 10, 2009
- Efforts to tow away grounded ship off Mumbai suspended - Jun 19, 2011
- Robot can detect tiny mines under ship hulls - Jul 18, 2012
- Search team to hunt for Polish explorer's plane that got lost in 1928 - Aug 24, 2009
- Disabled team pulls off 108-km river rafting journey - Nov 22, 2010
- NASA's Cassini spots possible ice volcano on Saturn's moon - Dec 15, 2010
- Satellite records Antarctica ice shelf's retreat - Apr 08, 2012
- Iceberg, 19 km by 8 km, drifting towards Australia - Dec 09, 2009
Tags: 18 years, air force plane, daily mail, hmnzs canterbury, lieutenant, navy warship, new zealand air force, polar ice, pumice, raft, rock ice, scientists, spotlight, swell, underwater volcano, volcanic rocks, waves, weird phenomenon, weird rock, zealand navy