Satellite images show loose stones on an area of about 150 square kilometers. In the Pacific, a huge carpet of volcanic rock floats. Its size roughly corresponds to the area of Bochum or Freiburg - the pool is more than twice as large as Manhattan.
The Brocken probably originated in the first week of August at the eruption of an underground volcano near the island of Tonga, reported NASA. Thus, it is probably several million lumps of volcanic pumice stone.
Pumice is gray and arises, for example, when magma cools quickly after an eruption under water. By steam and carbon dioxide, the rock is foamed and thus has many bubbles, is relatively easy and floats on the water. Some of the chunks are the size of a basketball.
The rock carpet was discovered by an Australian sailor couple at the end of August. Larissa Brill and Michael Hoult took a catamaran to the Fiji Islands and documented their discovery with photo cameras. On their Facebook page, the two write: "The field of stone chunks reached as far as we could see in the moonlight and with the light of our headlights."
New home for marine life
Brill and Hoult were temporarily stuck because stones had blocked their rudder. They could then navigate out of the field.
The rock carpet is currently driving towards Australia. Experts hope the pumice will become a new home for marine life. It may also benefit the world's largest coral reef, the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Australia, helping it to become even more biodiverse. But there is also the danger that invasive species can enter the ecosystem via the stones.
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The prerequisite for both variants, however, is that the stone carpet holds the course for Australia. According to previous calculations, he moves, past New Caledonia and Vanuatu, with great probability there. However, it will take more than half a year until the first stones arrive there.