In an article titled Good Day at Black Rock: 10 Cool Columnar Basalt Formations Author Steve writes about some of the most amazing columnar basalt formations, which he notes are created by lava cooling and cracking in vertical angles. One of the largest of these formations is Devils Tower in Wyoming that stands 1,267 feet tall. Another formation in Scotland called Fingal’s Cave is a large island made of this molten rock that has a 279 feet deep cave. One such formation is located right here near Mammoth, California. Called the Devil’s postpile, this collection of hexagon shaped lava rocks is thought to be around 100,000 and 700,000 years old. A 600,000 year time gap does not narrow down how old these rocks are but I can take their word for it that these rocks are old. Although many of these rocks are great tourist spots for the kids to climb and people to take pictures, but they are also prime rock climbing destinations.

http://webecoist.com/2010/12/07/good-day-at-black-rock-10-cool-columnar-basalt-formations/
http://www.ram.org/ramblings/other/cctrip.html

In an article on Webecoist.com by author Steph titled 12 Fantastic Floating Cities and Artificial Islands, Steph describes some of the most mesmerizing floating cities. Included in these amazing cities is Aberdeen Harbor, a city like cluster of boats off the coast of Hong Kong. Oily Rocks is a man made island city off the coast of Azerbaijan that is made up of overturned boats that serve has the ground. Years ago, this was once a small community with homes and a school that served the oil industry. No Mans Land Fort is a small Victorian style fort off the coast of Britain that was use to defend Britain from the French Navy. This fort, which is now a hotel, has an indoor pool, 21 rooms and a couple helipads. I would love to stay in forts like these. It would be nice to look out and see the ocean all around. But I think at some point it would get old, and going back to society wouldn’t be half bad.

http://webecoist.com/2009/04/27/12-fantastic-floating-cities-and-artificial-islands/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1580973/Battle-for-the-4-million-sea-fortress.html

According to a story titled Tourist Temptation: Anthrax Island by CBS News, since terrorists have started using Anthrax as a weapon in letters, tourists and journalists have begun taking an interest in Gruinard Island in Scotland since 2001. The reason for the interest is that during World War II Britain started testing anthrax on animals on this small little island. Gruinard Island, which is only about 520 acres, was a prime site for testing some of the first anthrax weapons. The animals, particularly sheep, would be grazing on this small little island when suddenly their lunch would be disturbed when suddenly an anthrax bomb would be dropped on them. Once the island was completely wiped out of life the British military dropped 280 tons of formaldehyde over it and called it good as new, hoping that any anthrax on the island would be killed. Now I am not too sure what the tourists and journalists are looking for on this island 70 years later. There is some small life on this island but not much.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/10/29/world/main316169.shtml
http://www.scotclans.com/bletherskite/?p=1185

According to an article on reuters.com titled Climate change fans deep-burning fires in Alaska by Deborah Zabarenko, climate change in Alaska has caused longer fire seasons and deeper burning fires. The forest fires, which have been caused by lightning and human intervention, have been occurring more often due to the longer summer season caused by the earths' warming. This longer fire season starts to burn not only the ground cover but also the carbon that is stored in the soil as deep down as 26 feet. This emission of stored carbon, which is called peat, has caused Alaska to become a major contributor of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. According to Zabarenko, a forest fire in Alaska in 2004 emitted more than 56.7 million tons of carbon in 90 days. This amount of carbon emissions is astounding since this is more than the U.S. electrical generating plants produced in 90 days.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B41QS20101205
http://www.alaska-in-pictures.com/forest-fire-in-alaska-3297-pictures.htm

I became very curious about Cortes Bank after Professor Harmon mentioned it in one of his lectures. I had never heard of it and being from Southern California I felt I should have. My first search brought up a video of the Worlds biggest wave ever surfed . I never would have believed that a wave that big could exist if i had not seen it with my own eyes. All of my information on Cortes Bank came from the Youtube video How Cortes Banks Works by SurflineTV. Cortes Bank is a seamount about 100 miles off the coast of California near San Diego. A seamount is a rising piece of land made by a volcano that never quite reaches the surface. The highest point on Cortes Bank is 6 feet below the service. This point is named Bishop rock. Because the Bank is so far off the coast, it can gets swells coming from every direction. When the swell hits the bank, it shoots off of it and create giant waves. Cortes Bank is also one of the last places where white abalone can be seen because they are at risk to becoming extinct. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz97moE41Xo&feature=BF&list=FLsJVkKoYUP8o&index=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nS_aR8XX_U&feature=BF&list=FLsJVkKoYUP8o&index=2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seamount

http://swfsc.noaa.gov/textblock.aspx?Division=FRD&id=1289

According to the NewsOK, the U.S. geological reported that an earthquake of magnitude 4.2 hit central Oklahoma Wednesday evening and again an hour later with a 3.2 magnitude. Then on Thursday, a 2.5 magnitude earthquake hit near the town of Arcadia followed by a 2.8 magnitude earthquake immediately after. When I first read the article, I came across the term "epicenter" and believed that it was the name of a stadium in Oklahoma. My next thought was that "there really must not be too much to do in a desolate state like Oklahoma if their "State's Most Trusted News" reports how far away a rare earthquake was to its treasured sports stadiums." Once I came to realize that my ignorance had lead me to believe this conclusive thought, I looked up epicenter and learned it is a geological term for the point on the surface of the Earth above the focus of the underground earthquake.

http://newsok.com/small-earthquakes-rattle-arcadia-luther/article/3518457
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicenter
http://www.glynn.k12.ga.us/BHS/Juniorprojects/Hopkins01/miguelo23724/Epicenter.gif

On the West coast of New Zealand's North island, Mount Taranaki, an active volcano has reportedly been eroding at a constant and dangerous rate. Aerial pictures show that between the years 1995 and 2007, approximately 14.3 million cubic metres of loose rock and sand has eroded away from the mountain. At the first sign of recent rockslides, locals believed that this was a sign of an eruption from the dormant, yet active volcano. Although there has not yet been a threat of an eruption, locals still have another problem on their hands. The erosion from the mountain has dropped rock and sand down its side disturbing the "sources of domestic water supplies." I was not sure what they meant by domestic water supplies, but I can insinuate that they perhaps mean that the sediment has blocked passages where water once flowed. This would mean that water is no longer distributed to certain wells along the plain.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/environment/news/article.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10691052