Socotra Island

Hi everyone!


I am blogging from Socotra Island (my first stop!!) , which is the main island in the archipelago Socotra islands. These islands are part of the county Yemen. I traveled here by a tiny little plane owned by Yemen Airways. It’s pretty warm right now, about 85º F, but its windy and a little overcast :(. I’m staying in a little house in Habidu, which is the largest city in Socotra. Its population is around 8,600 occupants as of 2004. It's crazy to think that the largest city only has 8,000 people!

         Socotra is right by the boundary of the Arabian and Africian plate. It’s only about 130 miles out from the border. The latitude is about 14º N and 53º E. These two plates have a divergent border, meaning they move away from each other. Ridges are formed from divergent boundaries because when the two plates move away from each other, molten lava comes up from underneath the ground. For example, the East Sheba ridge, which is right along the border of these two plates. There actually hasn’t been much tectonic activity on the island itself. It’s not volcanic, so there have been no eruptions. There was a 4.7-magnitude earthquake on February 2nd of this year that affected the island a little, but it wasn’t on it directly.

            Below are some pictures of Socotra that I took. This island is known for it’s crazy flora and fauna. It’s considered the most alien-like place on earth. But it’s gorgeous! The big umbrella-like tree is called a dragon tree. It’s pretty rare and weird looking!

~Grace

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRUsEequSmRDT9PRqLG9kXVAL3cd7Tagu-dYn9ft8KJqrnsWBaanyIYucoagZYpp5ZH1vklJrEooGA43hEi1M-EiTCb70072FN-q3eT8XczKBnwwxh7j3CbvLBQLUmjSCW33s8XGUFvAk/s400/Socotra_Island_15.jpg

http://www.wayfaring.info/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/socotra_island5.jpg

 http://www.travelgrove.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Socotra_dragon_tree.jpg

First Post

Hi everyone!

My name is Grace, and I am a photojournalist for National Geographic.  I have gone on a lot of adventures throughout the world, and this time I have been assigned to go to a couple different places. These places will be on or very close to the boundary between two tectonic plates. I will study the different boundary types--divergent, convergent, and transform--and the effects they have on the earth. They produce things like earthquakes, mountains, volcanoes, trenches, and islands. It's quite cool if you ask me!

Here is a picture of the boundary lines:

http://www.learner.org/interactives/dynamicearth/images/new_map.jpg

I have decided to blog about my travels because I feel that I am really lucky to be able to see all these different places, and I want to share my experiences with you! It will be an interesting experience and I hope to learn a lot from it.
I will blog from my first place when I arrive there!

~Grace