Nature photography post #2

It seems that today is nature photography day, which can’t be a bad thing.

From Australian Geographic:

A hauntingly still photo of Lake Wanaka in New Zealand, by Victorian Neville Jones, was a finalist in the Amateur Nature category of the 2012 Epson International Pano Awards.

Underwater Volcano Growing at Rapid Rates

Scientists have this week reported on a submarine volcano that has “grown at a record-breaking rate”, providing unprecedented insight into these usually inaccessible underwater cones. 

Located 1000 km north of New Zealand, the Monowai Cone volcano is a large 8.5 x 11 km wide submarine caldera with a depth of more than 1500 metres and is named after the New Zealand Navy ship that first documented its morphology. A team of German researchers were monitoring the volcano and over a period of 14 days observed signficant changes in seafloor depth, with fluctuations as high as 100 metres. 

As noted by Susan Kieffer at Geology in Motion, the most striking observation was the presence of a new cone near the summit, thought to be a result of the eruption of 0.00875 cubic kilometres of magma during the 14-day observation period.

The researchers published their findings last week in Nature Geoscience, adding much-needed insight into the usually elusive structure, evolution, and behaviour of submarine volcanoes.

Head to the Australian Geographic for more.

Image credit: Planet Earth Online

Aqua Satellite’s Incredible Images of Earth

Wired Science has a great collection of images that celebrate NASA’s Aqua satellite.  Shown above is a satellite image of New Zealand, taken in April 2011.