Trivia
Here's a map of Sumatra. About two-thirds of the way up the island, you can see the giant volcanic Lake Toba.
Inside that, you can see the big island of Samosir, which actually is a dome that welled up in the caldera of the volcano. You don't even want to think about what would happen if Toba does a Mount St. Helens.
For geography buffs, though, Samosir holds a special place. It's only the fourth-largest lake island in the world.
It is, however, the largest island, in a lake on an island in the world.
***
A tidal wave is properly high water caused by movements of the tides. The twice-daily inrush of water in the Bay of Fundy, for example, is a tidal wave. But since at least the 1870s the term often has been erroneously used for what struck the Indian Ocean nations on Dec. 26, a great ocean wave caused by an earthquake or asteroid impact.
That is more properly called a tsunami, or a seismic sea wave.
I'm pleased to note that the Associated Press, in its stylebook (copyright 2004) indicates all this correctly. I'm sorry to say, however, that all this correct information is incorrectly listed in the "W" section of the book, under "Weather."
Earthquakes and the moon's gravitational pull are not "Weather."
Inside that, you can see the big island of Samosir, which actually is a dome that welled up in the caldera of the volcano. You don't even want to think about what would happen if Toba does a Mount St. Helens.
For geography buffs, though, Samosir holds a special place. It's only the fourth-largest lake island in the world.
It is, however, the largest island, in a lake on an island in the world.
***
A tidal wave is properly high water caused by movements of the tides. The twice-daily inrush of water in the Bay of Fundy, for example, is a tidal wave. But since at least the 1870s the term often has been erroneously used for what struck the Indian Ocean nations on Dec. 26, a great ocean wave caused by an earthquake or asteroid impact.
That is more properly called a tsunami, or a seismic sea wave.
I'm pleased to note that the Associated Press, in its stylebook (copyright 2004) indicates all this correctly. I'm sorry to say, however, that all this correct information is incorrectly listed in the "W" section of the book, under "Weather."
Earthquakes and the moon's gravitational pull are not "Weather."
