Tom,

I just got home from my summer vacation... catching up on your journals and images... they are great! You mentioned that the Pribs are sometimes called the Galapagos of the North... from the looks of your pictures I would agree. When I was down south in '06 we were amazed at the sea birds and sea lions too. (I am sure that the seal rookery does not smell much different in the North than at the equator!)

Do you know much of the geology of the Pribs? It looks as if the sea clifs are a basalt type rock. Is this a volcanic region like some of the other Alaskan isalnds? Do you know how old thes islands are?

Keep the great pictures coming!

Tim

Thomas Harten

Hi Tim,
Thanks for writing! I know a little about the geology of the islands.
They are indeed basaltic rock from volcanoes that are now considered
extinct. St. Paul is a relatively recent formation, portions of the
island ranging in age from about .5 million to as recent as 3,500 years
in age. Just the blink of an eye in geological time.
They are different from the Aleutians in that the Pribs are an
intra-plate volcano, forming within the North American plate rather than
at the plate boundary.
The rock is highly erodable, resulting in the spectacular cliffs that
are quite prominent in several parts of the island.
Keep in touch!