A closer view of the volcanic crater. Note the person for scale.
Last week I shared a picture of the beautiful and impressive Formica Leo, a volcanic crater located at the Piton de la Fournaise volcano on Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean. Last week’s picture showed the crater from a distance. You can just barely make out some small people in last week’s picture, to give you some sense of scale. However, I thought I would share a closer view of the crater this week. This picture, which was taken as we hiked around the rim of the crater, shows a person and gives you a sense that this crater is actually pretty large, if small compared to the overall volcano. The background also gives you a glimpse of the edge of the larger volcanic feature in which this small crater sits. You can see some lava flows on the cliffs in the background.
Stay tuned for more pictures and information from Réunion — there’s much interesting geology to share!
A gorgeous volcanic crater known as “Formica Leo”. Note the people for scale – click to enlarge image.
Today I’m sharing a picture of the stunning Formica Leo (foreground), a volcanic crater located at the Piton de la Fournaise volcano on Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean. My husband and I hiked up this crater when we visited the island for a holiday last year. We also hiked up to the top of the volcanic hill in the distance — crossing over a number of lava flows of various ages. If you ever have the chance, I highly recommend a visit to Piton de la Fournaise — and to Réunion in general. We certainly plan to go back within the next couple of years.
For this week’s post, here’s a picture showing a lovely example of Pele’s Hair, which is a type of volcanic glass that consists of fibers or thin strands.
Although I’ve visited many volcanoes (including a few active ones) over the years, I’ve never seen Pele’s Hair in the field. So, I was quite happy to see this excellent example in the volcano museum on Réunion Island. I visited the museum during my vacation to the island last year. If you ever find yourself on the island, visiting the museum is a must. There are all sorts of wonderful displays and examples of different lava types, including this fantastic Pele’s Hair sample.
Lovely fresh pahoehoe flow on Réunion Island with my hand for scale.
For this week’s picture, here’s another lovely shot of pahoehoebasalt that I took during a March 2017 vacation to Réunion Island. I previously shared a picture of some Réunion pahoehoe here.
Olivine crystals (little yellow-green particles) weathering out of a young basaltic surface.
For this week’s picture, here’s an image of a relatively young basaltic surface weathering. You can see yellow-green olivine crystals weathering out of the dark matrix. Olivine is one of the first minerals to weather out of rocks, so you can tell that these basalts must be young. Older basalts generally don’t contain fresh olivine, at least not any crystals that you can easily identify with the naked eye. I took this picture back in March on Réunion Island, a young volcanic island in the Indian Ocean.
Taking a break from hiking on a pahoehoe lava flow. I’m about 9 weeks pregnant in this picture and was already struggling with severe morning sickness. However, that didn’t stop me from (slowly) hiking along some fantastic lava flows during my vacation.
First of all, for this week’s “Monday Geology Picture” enjoy this fantastic picture of me sitting on some pahoehoe lava earlier this year, when I visited Réunion Island back in March.
Second of all, let me provide a little explanation about why I have been terribly negligent of this blog over the past few months, despite my best intentions at the beginning of the year. In January I fully intended to read one science book every month (and write a review), post weekly geology pictures, and blog about some geologically-themed aspects of some recent vacations… and maybe even revive the Geology Word of the Week. Instead, I’ve barely posted at all this year!
My excuse is, however, a happy one: I am expecting a baby boy any day now. Why did my pregnancy lead to such a terrible lapse in my blogging? Well, I have had over 8 months of terrible morning sickness so far. I am unfortunately one of those rare women who have morning sickness for the whole pregnancy, and it’s been really debilitating. Even on strong medication, I feel seasick for many hours every day — often all day and all night. I haven’t read a science book in months because reading generally makes me feel more seasick and gives me a headache. Writing is similarly challenging. With an abundance of medication, careful eating, and days off to rest I’ve managed to (mostly) keep up with my day job and home life, but I just haven’t had anything extra in me for blogging. Fortunately, other than the morning sickness my pregnancy has gone well and baby is healthy. He’s full term now, so he could come at any time!
Now that I’m about to start my maternity leave I thought that I should revive this blog. I’ll start with setting up some weekly geology pictures to auto-post over the next few weeks. Then, once I’m settled somewhat with baby, I hope to add some other blogging. I know that I’ll be very busy and sleep deprived, but I think I should be able to carve out a little time for blogging. Also, I think that I’ll feel more like blogging again, since my doctor assures me that as soon as baby is born the seasickness should quickly go away. Maybe, if baby lets me, I’ll even read a science book now and then!
Anyway, thanks for your patience with my absence… and stay tuned for some good content coming soon!
Pahoehoe lava flow on Piton de la Fournaise volcano. Photo taken March 2017.
For this week’s “Monday Geology Picture” here’s a stunning example of a pahoehoe lava flow. I took this picture back in March when I visited Piton de la Fournaise volcano on Réunion Island. I’ll be sharing more pictures from Réunion soon – stay tuned!
Georneys 