Volcanoes in the Back Yard

Even when you know that the area in which you live is prone to earthquakes, perhaps the last thing you might expect is a volcano in the back yard. Yet these are not the volcanoes we see in Hollywood movies. Neither are they the mud volcanoes which occur near geysers. These are something quite different. These are sand volcanoes.

Image Credit Flickr User Mollivan Jon

A sand volcano usually occurs after an earthquake. It is formed when sand is thrown up to the surface from a central position. As the sand is ejected it builds up in to a cone, taking on the appearance of a volcano as the sand comes to rest on its sides. A crater forms which can range in size from the tiny, just a few milimeters, to one which can extend to several meters.

Lake Kaindy – Kazakhstan’s Sunken Forrest

Lake Kaindy is situated near the village of Saty in the Kungey Alatau Mountains (a range in the North Tien-Shan) in the central Asian country of Kazakhstan.

There wasn’t always a lake there: the trunks of pine trees jutting out of the water provide testimony to that.

So what happened here?

Image Credit Flickr User Nuggems

The lake is only 400 meters length but in some places it is over thirty meters deep.  It was formed as a result of the massive 1911 Kebin earthquake.  There was a huge landslide which blocked the gorge and a natural dam was formed – and endured.  As the waters rose and it submerged the Schrenk's Spruce (the place means lots of spruce) growing in the area.

Stay Strong, Japan