The Eric Aitchison email thread on chronology was sent a link to http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201504250044 … by Johnny Godowski, who likes all things unusual, and concerns the strange appearance of newly formed land along the Shiretoko Peninsular on the SE coastline of Hokkaido Island (Japan). It measures 500m by 30m and is up to 15m in elevation – and may still be growing. Marine organisms such as sea weed and sea urchins are attached to rock on the piece of land which indicates it has risen out of the ocean floor. How can that be?
John Crowe replied to say that one of his uncles was in a ship in Hawkes Bay in New Zealand in 1931 just after 4,000 hectares of newly born land had appeared beside the town of Napier. The uplift amounted to 4m. He added that the Plain of Troy has a famous hill made of an extrusion of granite. This became the seat of the gods who supported the Trojans. We may note that an article (which I will have to root out) in a journal said that granite was intrusive – and may actually be as a result of electromagnetic forces.
John goes on to say that 20 years ago he read that a woman in the US had watched as a hill slowly appeared at the bottom of her garden. Over ten years it developed into a smooth rounded hillock, 50m high. When looking at a structure and wondering if the land or the sea level rose or fell it is easy to reach the wrong conclusion. We may note Steve Mitchell was of the opinion the land could go up – and come down. We know about subsidence (or we think we do) but uplift is a strange beast.
Don Mills chipped in with a story of a young volcano, Paricutin. It spouted out of the ground, a reasonably flat farm, and within 24 hours had generated a 50m high scoria cone. Within a week it was over 100m – and ended up at 424m. He then recalls an earthquake in New Zealand, in 1855, which involved horizontal movement of 18m – near Wellington.
We may also note a news item last year about a new volcano growing up from the sea floor in the Atlantic – which grew extremely quickly. The fact it has been out of the news for over 12 months suggests it has not actually burst through the top of the sea – but if growth is episodic, that may be on the cards. So, we have new land forming as a result of tectonic events – but what drives them along?