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White Island is a very active
volcano. Can you find it on a map? Scientists used to live
on the island, but now it is too dangerous.
Scientists still visit the island
regularly to check on the volcanic activity.
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This is the crate lake on White
Island.
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This is all that is left of the
sulphur processing factory abandoned in the 1930s. At the
height of sulphur mining activity in the late 1920s there
was a post office, radio station, and cookhouse on the
island. Everything, including water, was shipped in. Sheep
were run on the island to provide meat in
emergencies.
It has been destroyed by volcanic
eruptions on the island, and the metal eaten away by the
acid atmosphere.
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With the frequent eruptions, there
are cracks in the ground. Scientists have to watch these
cracks, so they can predict what may be going to happen in
the future.
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Scientists regularly make trips to
the island to watch what is happening, and to measure
changes. They also learn a lot about how volcanoes
behave.
They wear hard hats because there are
often rocks thrown out in the eruptions, and they have gas
masks to wear if there is too much poisonous gas to breathe
safely.
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