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Mass of volcanic rocks found floating off New Zealand

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KynloStephen66515:

In this photo released by New Zealand Defence Force, pumice rocks are shown after being collected.
A mass of small volcanic rocks nearly the size of Belgium was discovered floating off the coast of New Zealand.
(Nicole Munro/New Zealand Defence Force/Associated Press)

A mass of small volcanic rocks nearly the size of Belgium has been discovered floating off the coast of New Zealand.

The stretch of golf-ball-size pumice rocks was first spotted this week by a New Zealand air force plane about 1,000 kilometres northeast of Auckland. The rocks stretch for about 26,000 square kilometres.

A navy ship took scientists to the rocks Thursday night. Naval Lt. Tim Oscar says the rocks appeared a brilliant white under a spotlight, like a giant ice shelf.

He says it's the "weirdest thing" he's seen in 18 years at sea.
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/offbeat/story/2012/08/09/offbeat-floating-lava.html

4wd:
Um, that's actually air-dried passenger droppings from aircraft....always wondered where it all ended up.



 :P

tomos:
small volcanic rocks nearly the size of Belgium
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is Belgium that small :P


... never knew pumice floated ...

SeraphimLabs:
small volcanic rocks nearly the size of Belgium
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is Belgium that small :P


... never knew pumice floated ...
-tomos (August 11, 2012, 04:18 AM)
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It's formed from lava that has a lot of dissolved gases in it. When the lava hardens before the gases can escape, a rather sponge-like rock that typically can float is created.

But it's interesting that they'd find a mass of it floating free. It's usually only found in areas with current or past geologic activity. And those lumps have rounded edges, they may have been in the water a long time.

Renegade:
That would be a cool site to see -- the ocean covered in rock. :)

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