Our planet has a high level of tectonic activity. In the past few decades, disastrous earthquakes have captured our attention. A careful look at historical records, however, demonstrates that a major volcanic eruption would cause immensely more devastation that any natural event our world has experienced recently.
Granitic rocks form the backdrop of iconic landscapes worldwide – from the narrow ridge of Machu Picchu to the massive walls of Yosemite Valley. In southern Idaho, City of Rocks National Reserve contains a “sculpture garden” of granitic rock outcrops with a different appearance from most other granites. They are a result of unusual geologic processes – an interesting story.
Deep in equatorial Africa, a high mountain range known as the Mountains of the Moon played a prominent role for centuries in myths about the source of the Nile River. An absorbing history of these mountains is published in a blog post in Volcano Café. As Albert, who wrote the post, states “They are mountains without a cause.”
