Pumice raft

Pumice raft

A pumice raft is a floating raft of pumice occasionally created by ocean-based volcanic activity.

Recent volcanic activity in the South Pacific near Tonga on August 12, 2006 revealed the emergence of a new island. The crew of the Maiken, a yacht that left the northern Tongan islands group of Vava'u in August, reported on their Web log [http://yacht-maiken.blogspot.com/2006/08/stone-sea-and-volcano.html] that they saw streaks of light, porous pumice stone floating in the water -- then "sailed into a vast, many-miles-wide belt of densely packed pumice."

Pumice rafts drifted to Fiji in 1979 and 1984 from eruptions around Tonga, and some were reportedly 30 kilometers (19 miles) wide.

ee also

*Floating island
*Home Reef

External links

* [http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/shownh.php3?img_id=13971 NASA Earth Observatory photo of and article about Tonga new island and pumice raft]
* [http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/vol_extra.cfm?name=China%20Sea%20Pumice South China Sea Pumice]


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