18 April 2010
 
Quakes and Shakes

Krakatau erupting on May 27, 1883. From Symons, G., 1888, The Eruption of Krakatau and Subsequent phenomena: Reports of the Krakatau Committee of the Royal Society, Trubner, London.

It is unfortunate that the world appears to be falling apart just as I am getting read to get back out in it.
 
The Iceland eruption that has paralyzed air travel in Europe is stretching across South Asia, and impacting US operations in South Asia. The duration of the volcanic activity is completely up to our Mother Earth.
 
It could cease today, and it could go on for weeks or months. If so, it will have a personal impact since I had hoped to venture over the pond in just a few weeks. There is a sole flight today to Rome; no one else dares to venture into the cloud.
 
The misery is concentrated at the airports as schedules are smashed. The wider impact will spread as well. The ash is incredibly fine and still aloft, for the most part. The World Health Organization has done some preliminary work on what is floating around, and
Their analysis claims that 25% of the particulate matter is smaller than 10 microns in diameter.
 
A human hair is about 100 microns wide, which is to say that the particles are very small, and thus can penetrate deep into the lungs. Fine powder is starting to cover Britain; near the site of the eruption is has fallen like gray snow.
 
There is the matter of what the stuff will do at atmosphere. If the eruption continues long enough, it could reflect the sun’s energy, and lower temperatures on the earth’s surface. There has been a lot of seismic activity of late. Before Iceland there were catastrophic events in China and Chilie and Haiti.
 
There was a 6.3 Richter event in Papua New Guinea as well, originating in the chain of volcanic islands that forms the nation of Indonesia.
I don’t know if there is more or less seismic activity than usual, if these things feed upon one another or not. I think it is pretty clear that the scientists cannot predict the occurrence or severity of the incidents.
 
I saw the vast and capricious evidence of Mother’s power steaming north from Australia toward our homeport in Japan.
 
It had been a marvelous sojourn in Perth; one of those magical experiences in a life when youth, energy, alcohol and the enthusiastic locals had combined to form an exuberating elixir.
 
We felt we had earned the break, having been off the coast of Iran for months. The trip north likewise had some flexibility, and the navigator set a course north for the South China Sea that cut through the Sundra Strait, west of Djakarta.
We were not flying on the transit, and we had aluminum folding chairs to sit on the black flight deck and watch the world slip by.
 
There was a group of three low islands in the Strait that had some history. Between them had been another modest peak called Krakatoa by the Dutch but better known in the area as Krakatau.
 
In 1883, the island a series of blasts on the island culminated in a colossal explosion that blew the island apart in one of the largest eruptions in recorded history. The sound of the explosion was heard thousands of miles away and killed over 36,ooo Javanese.
 
Krakatoa was one of over 130 active volcanoes in the island chain, and the explosion had far-reaching global implications. In addition to the massive tsunamis that swept right over some smaller islands and ejected solid debris,  fine fragments of tephra and dust were propelled miles into the stratosphere.
 
Like the Icelandic plume, the particulate matter began to make a ring around the equator. Unlike the current event, the enormous mass from the Krakatoa blast remained suspended for years.
 
The dust caused remarkable solar effects and atmospheric hazing as they bent the incoming light. Effects such as halos around the sun and moon, and amazing sunsets and sunrises were seen.
 
The enormous volumes of sulfur dioxide molecules propelled into the atmosphere combined with water to create acidic gases that blocked enough sunlight to drop the Earth's temperature by a measurable amount for years. That was not so long ago, in the earth’s time.
 
It was peaceful and green when I saw what remained, and the three little islands sank into the gray-green sea astern as we lolled in our chairs.
 
It was not the first time that Krakatau blew its top. David Keys, the British archeologist who writes for the Telegraph claims to have collected evidence from around the world that suggests a massive eruption occurred around 535 AD. His possibly florid estimate puts the seismic event of that year as being the equivalent of "two thousand million Hiroshima size bombs.”
 
I have no idea if that is true, but it was broadcast on PBS, which shows you something. Mr. Keys and others claim that the subsequent environmental calamity affected human civilization from Mongolia to Constantinople and ushered in the Dark Ages in Europe. The disruption of agriculture in the Middle East may have contributed to the rise of Islam.
 
So, I guess in the context of a couple millennia, I am very happy to be only worried about whether my airline tickets will be good in a few weeks. It does make you think about the power of the earth, doesn’t it?
 
Copyright 2010 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
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