St. Paul Island is made up entirely of basaltic rock and pyroclastic tuff from volcanism which ended some time in the late Pleistocene, roughly 12,000 years ago. Extinct cinder cones that dominate the outline of the island, once spewed huge volumes of lava over the landscape, creating solidified flows of twisted black rock. Some of the eruptions were evidently violent, burping out massive clouds of frothy pyroclastic flows, which left behind porous clumps of craggy red rock. If St. Paul were situated in a warmer wetter climate, it could easily be mistaken for a Hawaiian Island. This island, however, is far from the tropics, and the stark black volcanic rock supports no forests or bushes. Vegetative life on St. Paul is stunted by strong winds, a short growing season, and a long cold winter. Still, slowly but surely, leaves are beginning to appear, and soon the island will be blanketed with a lush carpet of green grasses and colorful wildflowers.
Canon EOS 60D, Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM + Canon EF 25mm Extension Tube II, ISO-200 f/4.5 @ 1/160 sec.
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