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Tonyblack

Super Moderator
City Watch
Jul 25, 2008
30,841
3,650
Cardiff, Wales
#2
I wonder where it came from? Pumice is volcanic material - my understanding was that it was from a land based volcano rather than an undersea one.
 

RathDarkblade

Moderator
City Watch
Mar 24, 2015
16,002
3,400
47
Melbourne, Victoria
#3
I wonder whether, like Leshp, it will soon sink again. Hmm.

I do not, however, believe there would be any form of ancient architecture, or murals that show fish and octopi. But wouldn't it be nice if there was? ;)
 

Tonyblack

Super Moderator
City Watch
Jul 25, 2008
30,841
3,650
Cardiff, Wales
#4
Pumice floats - Leshp was only bouyed up by volcanic gasses. I think pumice would slowly accrete into a floating island. It's possible that some of the pumice is considerably more ancient than others.
 
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RathDarkblade

Moderator
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Mar 24, 2015
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#5
Hmm. What do you mean by "floating island", though? Surely all islands float, for given value of "float" (i.e. they don't sink!) ;)

Could people move to - and live - on this new island, for instance?
 

Dotsie

Sergeant-at-Arms
Jul 28, 2008
9,068
2,850
#6
Islands don’t float Rath!

So far it’s more of a slick than an island, but even if it accreted into a raft, it really wouldn’t be worth the effort to live on it.
 
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=Tamar

Lieutenant
May 20, 2012
11,961
2,900
#7
I saw a report somewhere that a pumice "island" had some skeletons on it, indicating that it had lasted a while. I wonder if such pumice islands are the explanation for some of the mysterious islands reported by sober, reliable ship captains, islands that have never been found again. If the same undersea volcano erupted again several years later, that could explain the reappearance of some of those vanishing islands.
 

Tonyblack

Super Moderator
City Watch
Jul 25, 2008
30,841
3,650
Cardiff, Wales
#8
Quite apart from pumice islands, there are, sadly, man-made Garbage Islands comprising plastics and other human detritus that has coagulated together due to natural currents in the oceans. When you consider the relatively short time we have been using plastics, it becomes worrying for our future. Perhaps the word "raft" should be used rather than "island" as islands generally do not float
 

RathDarkblade

Moderator
City Watch
Mar 24, 2015
16,002
3,400
47
Melbourne, Victoria
#9
Whether islands float or not depends on what definition you use of the word "float". It has many definitions.

If you define "float" as "stay on the surface, be buoyant, be buoyed up" (as opposed to sink), then islands float, don't they? After all, they don't sink, do they?

On the other hand, if you define "float" as "move or hover slowly and lightly in a liquid or the air; drift", then I agree. Islands generally don't drift away in the water.

As for man-made islands, the Aztecs famously built a huge island in the midst of Lake Texcoco, and on this island they built Tenochtitlan, their capital city. But they also built many floating gardens called chinampas in the shallow lake beds of the Valley of Mexico, not just in Lake Texcoco but also in the nearby Lakes Chalco and Xochimilco. What would the Americas have looked like if - as nearly happened - Cortez was captured during La Noche Triste, and the Spanish conquistadors faltered?

Some islands are countries and some countries are islands, but no man is an island, although you do have the Isle of Man but not Isle of Woman (though Lesbos is a strong candidate), but then Isla Mujeres off the coast of Mexico also applies, as it translates as "the Isle of Women".

These are some thoughts that prevented me from pursuing my PhD. ;)
 
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Dotsie

Sergeant-at-Arms
Jul 28, 2008
9,068
2,850
#10
I don't think its the definition of 'float' that's causing confusion here, but the definition of 'island', which is typically crust exposed above sea level. Unless you are referring to them not sinking into the mantle, but that's the same for all crust.
 

ThinkingFox

Administrator
City Watch
Jul 20, 2017
339
2,425
UK
www.thinkingfox.com
#12
I wonder if such pumice islands are the explanation for some of the mysterious islands reported by sober, reliable ship captains, islands that have never been found again
Many older maps show islands on them that don't exist, however the islands, if extrapolated along potential lines of sight, can be matched against the tops of mountains and hills further away. It was one of the reason why some academics initially dismissed the reported geographic extent voyagers of Chinese Admiral Zheng He as a myth.

One of the challenges was that the ship captains and navigators would record what they saw and the measurements of the stars and sun and then send this back to China where someone would turn it into a "map". Later, when someone then recorded a landmass say further east with a mountain, that would be added to the map, and the island would still be shown, even though it had "disappeared" or not been seen by the subsequent ship's captain and navigator.

There's a decent book that covers this by Gavin Menzies which is well worth a read, especially for potential landings of the fleet well outside the accepted journeys detailed by the main historical records:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/1421-Year-China-Discovered-World/dp/0553815229/

Gavin has written a few follow ups which further posit that China's treasure and discovery fleets also reached America and Italy:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Who-Discovered-America-Peopling-Americas/dp/0062236784
https://www.amazon.co.uk/1434-Chinese-Sailed-Ignited-Renaissance/dp/0007269552/

Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheng_He
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_treasure_voyages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Kun_map

/back on topic
 

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