A mass of golf-ball sized volcanic pumice stones as large as the European nation of Belgium has been discovered floating off the coast of New Zealand.
The mass of stones was first spotted by New Zealand Air Force planes approximately six hundred miles northeast of Auckland. The incredible rock formation stretches over 10,000 square miles, making it larger than Belgium.
A navy ship took scientists to the rock formations yesterday. Naval Lt. Tim Oscar says the rocks appeared a brilliant white under a spotlight, resembling a large ice sheet. Lt. Oscar stated the formation was the "weirdest thing" he's seen during his 18 year career at sea.
The pumice stones are believed to have risen up from the depths of the sea from an as-yet-undiscovered underwater volcano. As the pumice stones are lighter than water, they float to the surface and do not pose any hazard to ships.
At present, scientists do not believe the underwater volcano is related to another New Zealand volcano, Mount Tongariro, which erupted this week for the first time in over one hundred and fifteen years. The eruption was both spectacular and powerful, with an ash cloud thrown over four miles into the sky causing disruption to air as well as ground travel and ruining the plans of thousands of tourists visiting the area on holiday.
The seismic activity follows a disastrous series of earthquakes that struck the South Island city of Christchurch in 2010 and 2011. The city was almost decimated by the powerful February 22, 2011 earthquake, that left several hundred dead, with tens of thousands of homes and businesses damaged beyond repair, including its famed namesake cathedral. The city has seen a mass exodus of nearly half of its former population in the aftermath of the quakes, as strong aftershocks continue to jolt the long-suffering citizens.
Addendum: Could this be a "hit" for the Webbot Project's "New Land Rising" linguistic trend, which began surfacing in the data stream several years ago, along with the much-dreaded "Global Coastal Event" cataclysm that the software has predicted for our current time frame? Time will tell, but it is curious how so much of the specific wording from the various predictions has been incorporating into our everyday lexicons as time progresses...
Web Bot Project Takes Scary Look into Our Collective Future
