“Peppy! Did you know…?” Oh, crinkly candy, here we go again. We were hours into Christmas night on our way back north, somewhere over the African Atlantic Coast and the Boss kept talking about geology. Listening to Santa Claus rambling was one of the many perks not mentioned in the job description of the prestigious position that was the Chief Elf Assistant (CEA), I suppose.
“Did you know that the Agadir Canyon is one of the biggest canyons on Earth and most people don’t even know about it, because it is under water?”
I did not, in fact, know that. So maybe this would be an interesting one for once. I sighed. “No, Boss, I didn’t know that.”
“Well, let me tell you about it, then, Peppy!” And tell me, he did: “We just passed it, actually. It lies offshore the north-west African coast. It is 450 km long and up to 30 km wide and cuts deep into the shelf. Quite comparable to the size of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, by the way, and everyone knows about that one, hm? Anyway, as you can imagine a canyon under water is not formed by a river, though they are often associated with a major river system on land. There is a Congo Canyon, for example. But that’s mostly because of the sediments those rivers bring, because those canyons work as a high speed lane for sediments from the coast to the deeper oceans. Sometimes big packages of sediment get loose, like an avalanche and Whoosh! go down the canyon as fast as a reindeer on candy. What a fantastic ride, don’t you think, Peppy?. Ho! Ho! Ho!”
I shivered at the image, it was a good thing I did not live on the seafloor. The magically enhanced and hidden parts of the North Pole did seem a lot safer at this moment. Though, the melting was making that more complicated, too. Maybe we should consider the seafloor as an alternative in the future. There were experts on under-water-infrastructure in the UFRE (Union of Fantastical Realms on Earth) for sure. I made a mental note to invite a delegation of our allies in Atlantis for a consultation on that matter. Reminiscing about the submerged city made me think of another sunken feature.
“You know, Boss, I actually have an oceanic geological fun fact, too!”
He looked at me surprised, probably at my uncharacteristic enthusiasm. “Truly? Do tell!”
“Have you heard of the Great Blue Hole in Belize? The name may be a bit on the nose, admittedly, but it is quite fitting. It is a giant sinkhole, more than 300 m across and 130 m deep. When it was formed during an ice age, the sea level was lower, so it was flooded only later. There are lots of sinkholes in Belize, apparently. I think it was formed when carbonate rock was slowly dissolved by water underground, building a huge Karst cave with a lot of stalactites and so on. And then at one point it couldn’t hold the weight of what was above and caved in. And when the sea got higher, it flooded. I heard humans love going there to dive.”
“Hm! That does sound like a wondrous place, Peppy!”
We continued to fly north in silence for a while, just enjoying the view of the dark Atlantic ocean scattered with the occasional spots of light emanating from ships or small islands. It had been a long night and I was looking forward to a long sleep and a warm meal with the others at home. Then, in the west I saw a smokey reddish glow in the sky. I was still wondering at the sight, when Santa started talking:
“Hm..It looks like Iceland is showing off again. You know, I sometimes think it is a pity we only ever fly across the Earth at night. We are sure to miss beautiful sights, such as that Big Blue Hole you were talking about earlier. But I have flown close to both Hawaii and Iceland while eruptions were going on and I have to say, seeing glowing lava in the dark is truly a spectacular sight. One that not many can claim to have seen with their own eyes.”
We continued to stare at the red glow.
“I never get tired of thinking about how unique Iceland is. It is not only the biggest volcanic island on the planet, it is also the only place on earth where you can stand on a mid ocean ridge.”
“And see glaciers and giant rivers and northern lights at the same time.” I added.
“Yes, all that, too. Ho! Ho! Ho!”
And so we flew home, the Atlantic below, the volcanic red glow behind and before us Aurora gave her best Christmas show. I smiled.
“Merry Christmas, Boss!”
“Merry Christmas, Peppy!”
Written by Elisa Klein