Science Four years ago, loomed an island suddenly, from the Pacific Ocean, and in the meantime swarming the piece of land in all of life. Especially the mysterious mud fascinates NASA scientists, who already have a expedition to the island on memorial day: “We were just enthusiastic school children,” says NASA-scientist Than Slayback.
In 2015 alley between the two islands of Tonga by a volcanic eruption under the surface of the water, suddenly a new volcanic island from the Pacific Ocean. The spot of land still has no official name, but Tongalezen call the ‘Hunga Tonga’.
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The last 150 years there were but three such ‘new’ islands registered, so Hunga Tonga is a large playground for scientists. Researchers from NASA came recently to the island to the surface, the fauna and the flora to study. “We were just enthusiastic schoolchildren,” said Dan Slayback of the Goddard Space Flight Centre of NASA.
life and mysterious mud
Barely four years after Hunga Tonga from the ocean rose up, swarming the island of life. In no time, began vegetation to grow and hundreds of different species of seabirds make their nests along the cliffs. But it is especially the light-colored, clay-like mud that the researchers fascinates: “The mud is very sticky, we do not know what it is,” said Slayback. “I still does not know where that mud is coming from.”