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Here we had the opportunity for a morning hike over a blackened landscape that was nothing less than a geologic wonderland in Sullivan Bay, the northeast of Santiago Island. At every step, we would see the hardened twists and turns of lava that flowed during a volcanic eruption in the 1900s.

If you were talking about an "evil island", would it be jagged rocks, skeletons, scattered bones, no life, and black? Well, I came to an island exactly like what I just listed. Jagged rocks. Check. Skeletons, Check. Scattered bones. Check. No life and black. Check. Sullivan Bay happened to be completely different from James Bay, the northwest of Santiago Island where I visited the day before. Lush green bush trees and delicate pink flowers populated the small mountains while birds sang their beautiful songs from their nests where baby birds chirped happily.

At the waterfront of Sullivan Bay, we took a stop on the island where the lava rocks formed steps that helped us to approach the dry land without any problem. The sun was directly overhead and made our shadow fade away as we saw our first plant. It was the Mollugo carpetweed that had long branches ending with a tiny flower. Mollugo became one of the few plants that had colonized on the lava barren surface for miles around in addition to the lava cacti. Lava Lizards often played around them and we ran into each other.

Rocks crunched under my feet as the hot sun beat down on us. The lava field looked like a black ocean and was petrified at its roughest moments. There were three lava types: pahoehoe (braided), Aa (jagged), and schrict (ropey). Lava flow solidified mostly into pahoehoe Lava in a Hawaiian term.

Lava Bubbles from volcanic gases in the flow still remained and even burst over time.

Some reddish tuff cones rose from the wide black lava flow. The reddish color indicated oxidation which made the first step in the process of basalt turning into soil particles.

Lava tubes ran right underneath the cooled lava. Some old ones broke creating holes or even pits that were large enough for me to stand in.

The immense black lava flow ran through the reddish tuff and continued to reach out to the basaltic rocks as well as to the Pacific Ocean where Sally Lightfoot Crabs and Marine Iguanas abounded. Marine Iguanas adapted a black color and got well camouflaged in the lava field. So were the young crabs. However, once Sally Lightfoot Crabs turned to adulthood, they became bright-red and were easily seen along the black lava shores. This set up another example of natural selection. The survivors came from the ones who adapted themselves the best to the environs.

Other than us, Marine Iguanas and Lava Lizards might be the only survivable creatures because they were able to drink saltwater.

Sullivan Bay was the best place to discover the evidence of volcanism.

【红霞译文】

今天上午，我们打算去替代者岛东北部广袤无际的地质仙境，专门考察熔岩地貌，这些熔岩都是1900年以后由火山爆发时所留下的自然产物。

什么是“魔鬼岛”？一个怪石嶙峋、骷髅遍野、碎尸散落、荒芜人烟、火熏之色的岛屿，这就是眼下我所在的地方！怪石嶙峋，打钩“√”；骷髅碎尸，打钩“√”；荒芜人烟，打钩“√”；火熏之色，打钩“√”。替代者岛东北部的黑眼睛湾与我前天到访的西北部追随者湾完全不同，那里灌木林成荫，粉红花似锦，百鸟飞禽啼鸣，窝边的雏鸟争相唧呀啁啾，到处生机盎然。

黑眼睛湾水边，我们沿熔岩礁石自然形成的台阶上岸，这时太阳已经高高挂在头上，照得我们连自己的身影都躲了起来，唯有粟米草天不怕地不怕，长长的枝条，细小的花蕾，翘首迎候远道而来的不速之客。粟米草可谓土生土长屈指可数的几种旱生植物之一，在贫瘠荒凉的石缝间，像熔岩仙人掌一样坚强不屈，熔岩蜥蜴经常出没此地，使得彼此有机会互道问候。

随着脚下岩石发出嘎吱嘎吱的响声，阳光更加热烈起来，烤得我们火辣辣的，恰似“炎气拥为衣上火，汗光流出腹中汤”！熔岩荒野感觉好像黑色海洋，地面宛如磐石坚硬。熔岩大致有三种形状：辫状、突状、绳状。火山喷出地表的岩浆冷却后大部分形成辫状熔岩，其词源取自夏威夷波利尼西亚语。

熔岩气泡来自火山气体，有的至今保留完好，有的已在流动中破裂。

红色凝灰岩锥从熔岩荒野拔地而起，火成岩在变成土壤过程中因为第一步的氧化反应而呈红色。

冷却的熔岩底部经常产生管道结构，天长日久旧熔岩管逐渐破裂，形成地洞或者洼坑，有的大到可以藏身。

巨大黑熔岩流穿过红凝灰岩和花岗岩之后进入太平洋，这里成为红石蟹和海鬣蜥栖息的风水宝地。黑乎乎的海鬣蜥毋需乔装打扮，便与乌油油的熔岩难分难辨；红石蟹年幼后代同样身披黑色外套，与熔岩覆盖的深色礁石恍若一体，凭借天然保护色而免遭杀身之祸，直到长大出落成帝王将相皇母太后，才摇身改穿红色新衣。大自然的生物进化规律再次证明，物竞天择，适者生存。

除我们之外，海鬣蜥和熔岩蜥蜴大概是熔岩荒野唯一幸存的动物，因为它们有能力代谢高盐成分的海水。

黑眼睛湾的确是了解火山活动最好的地方。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2013: Bartolome Island, Ecuador(厄瓜多尔农夫之子岛)

2013: Isabella Island, Ecuador(厄瓜多尔献身上帝岛)

2011: 埃及教长湾—和平之城(Sharm El-Sheikh the City of Peace, Egypt)