The Earth Story

Scattered by cones

Volcanic cones (150 in total) on Marion Island almost appear are spots on a teenagers face. In addition a large portion of the island is covered in A'a and pahoehoe flows, the vegetated ones could be less than 100 years old. Marion is one of the peaks of a large submarine shield volcano that rises 500m from the bottom of the sea. Mascarin peak, the highest point on Marion is 1242m high. Eruptions have occurred in 1980 and 2004. It’s South Africa’s only historically known active volcano. Together with smaller neighbor Prince Edward Island Marion is collectively known as the Prince Edward islands and is located 1769 km from the South African mainland and a little bit further away from Antarctica. On average it rains 320 days a year. Thus Marion is rightly known as one of the cloudiest places in the world. Due to the wetness of the climate the island is covered with bog, lichen and other subarctic vegetation. There is not much difference between winter and summer on the island, it is always wet, with threat of snow and frost. The strong westerly winds that roam the island are branded the Roaring Forties

Marion was discovered by the Dutch ship Maerseveen in 1663, however it was not until 1772 that someone actually sat foot on it. Frenchman Joseph Marion du Fresne was in the preconception that he had made it to Antarctica. It took him 5 days to discover he was on two small islands. Again in 1803 the island was visited by sealers. In 1947 South Africa annexed the island and based a meteorological station there. There are no permanent inhabitants.

The introduction of cats on the island (in the first place brought here to deal with the problem of mice) caused the grey petrel to become extinct. Supposedly the cats managed to eat about half a million birds in 1975 alone. The cat eradication programme finally managed to get rid of the cats in 1991.

-OW-

Image: NASA Erath Observatory.

References: http://www.sanap.ac.za/sanap_marion/sanap_marion.html http://www.volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=234070

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The colors seen flying over the Tulip Fields of Holland in the spring are like nothing else on Earth.

Mist blows over a calm field in Holland

Slow panoramas and timelapses across the Netherlands in Winter. Lots of frozen grass. Somehow this doesn’t seem as cold as the snow-covered Latvian Landscape we saw yesterday. Plus - some actual wildlife!

Tulip Fields in the Netherlands, blowing in gentle breeze.

The Netherlands (Group B) - Tulip Fields Dutch teams of the past, purveyors of ‘Total Football’, instilled a sense of fear into opposition defences, as a sea of orange surrounded them. On a trip to the Dutch countryside you can see vibrant colours such as these of tulips of all varieties - a very different sea of orange. What is more remarkable is that tulips are usually found at high latitudes, and the low-lying Netherlands countryside is not where tulips would prefer to grow! (The Earth Story covered this in more detail earlier this year, with more pretty pictures!https://www.facebook.com/TheEarthStory/posts/634722666588781) This year’s side is not short of talent, with van Persie, Robben and Sneijder among the star names, but they have been played down as potential challengers. No european team has ever won a World Cup in North or South America, but will this years team be able to thrive, like the tulips, outside of their home environment? Sedg Image credit (non commercial): Frans Schouwenburg (http://bit.ly/SH9vEJ)

This is a photo of Tulip field in Northern Holland. Tulips come in a variety of shapes and sizes as well as an array of colours; red, pink, yellow, orange purple, in fact there are 1,700 varieties of tulips!! But did you know, that about 80% of them come from the Netherlands? Today over 3 billion tulip bulbs are cultivated in Holland, 2 billion of which are exported; with the United States of America being the top importer, taking around 1 billion a year!! Contrary to belief, tulips are not actually native to the Netherlands, The are naturally found in high altitude areas where during the winter thick layers of snow offers them good protection from the severe cold. Given this natural liking of tulips for high places, it is all the more remarkable that the Dutch should become known for growing tulips, as the Netherlands is largely situated below sealevel and their winters are more wet than cold! The ability to achieve such yields of tulips is a result of the soil type and climate of the region. The soils are often a sandy loam and offer good soil drainage, this ensure the bulbs do not rot from saturation. The relatively temperate climate is also a benefit giving sunlight, mild temperatures and sufficient rainfall. For tourists there is Keukenhof (“Kitchen garden”), it is situated near Lisse, The Netherlands and is the world’s largest flower garden, with more than 7 million flower tulip bulb planted annually! Keukenhof is open annually from the last week in March to mid-May. The best time to view the tulips is around mid-April, so basically the last couple weeks! -Jean Photo courtesy of Allard Schlager For more information: http://www.keukenhof.nl/