LIFE AFTER CATASTROPHE

In late May 1992 a team of Indian scientists specializing in different fields visited a desert island called Barren (N 12⁰ 25’, E 93⁰83’) which is part of Andaman Islands. Barren is a peak of a volcano that rose above the sea level and last erupted in 1991. The scientists discovered that the surface of the hardened lava that flowed out almost nine years ago was absolutely flat with a few patches of slag and ash here and there, its temperature being about 40⁰C.

The temperature 30 cm below the surface was clearly beyond 360⁰C even a year after the eruption. However, life is going on on the island. The botanists were surprised to see that many a fig tree charred during the eruption had new green shoots. Right after the eruption the zoologists noted an enormous quantity of crabs strangely settled on a lava tongue that had not yet cooled down. They also noticed wild goats grazing in the surrounding hills and many birds (rats that had been abundant seem to have completely disappeared). The waters off the island are still abundant with fish...

Further visits to that island will make it possible to specify the picture of the resumption of life in an isolated area following a natural disaster.