January 20, 2013
Charles Darwin's ecological experiment on Ascension isle
Howard Falcon-Lang in BBC News:
Two hundred years ago, Ascension Island was a barren volcanic edifice.
Today, its peaks are covered by lush tropical "cloud forest".
What happened in the interim is the amazing story of how the architect of evolution, Kew Gardens and the Royal Navy conspired to build a fully functioning, but totally artificial ecosystem.
By a bizarre twist, this great imperial experiment may hold the key to the future colonisation of Mars.
The tiny tropical island of Ascension is not easy to find. It is incredibly remote, located 1,600km (1,000 miles) from the coast of Africa and 2,250km (1,400 miles) from South America.
Its existence depends entirely on what geologists call the mid-Atlantic ridge. This is a chain of underwater volcanoes formed as the ocean is wrenched apart.
However, because Ascension occupies a "hot spot" on the ridge, its volcano is especially active. A million years ago, molten magma explosively burst above the waves.
A new island was born.
More here.
Posted by S. Abbas Raza at 12:34 PM | Permalink
Comments
Fantastic. But what comes to mind is that Mars is devoid of an Earth-like atmosphere that the first plants and trees will need to survive. Maybe genetically modified super-plants designed to handle Mars air? Just wondering here..
Posted by: flowers rainbows | Jan 20, 2013 2:43:28 PM
Forget Mars - this may solve more than a few problems here on Earth.
Posted by: Scott | Jan 22, 2013 10:08:53 AM
This thinking is already being used to solve some problems on earth.
In the arid south of Israel, forests are being planted which naturally create a virtuous circle such as that described on Ascension, effectively reversing the desertification process that we see in so many other arid countries which continue destroying forests instead.
Posted by: Jeremy | Jan 22, 2013 5:23:53 PM
Post a comment