GROWN UP STORIES
a fortress in such a place to begin with. Perhaps for uninhibited visibility on all sides?
Eden
We certainly had that. The isolation is what
drew the USGS to the island; with the nearest civilization dozens of miles away and
separated by open sea, we could conduct
our research in peace and without the constant seismic interference that larger cities can create. The island’s name is literally
Dutch for “abandoned.”
Brad Sewell
Serious interest in the possibility of tectonic
shifts came after a lengthy series of earthquakes in the Caribbean region, especially
after the 7.2 that decimated some portions
of Havana. Of particular interest was the impact such an event would cause in Miami or
farther north along the Floridian coasts, but
other island nations had reasonable cause
for concern.
Within time, the United States Geological
Survey commissioned myself and a team of
six other seismologists to conduct research
on the island of Verlaten, a short distance
north by northwest from the Curacao city
of Westpunt.
To give some description of Verlaten, it is an
uninhabited isle in the south Atlantic, running roughly fourteen miles at its longest
by an average width of eight miles, and
the slope of the isle runs from northeast
to southwest. Along the far southwestern edge is a narrow strip of fertile land
adorned with an abandoned Dutch fortress
and several buildings serving as retainer.
Otherwise, though there are patches of
green, the island is dominated by a sprawling desert. Considering the verdant landscape of the surrounding areas, it is evident
that seismic activity pushed part of the sea
bed upward within the last several thousand years, but no topsoil was ever deposited.
The area remains a hostile environment,
and we seismologists wondered on several
occasions why the Dutch would ever build
INSIGHT
A ship ferried us from Westpunt to Verlaten’s fortress. Deckhands helped us unload
our equipment and initial provisions. We
installed a small satellite communications
array atop the fortress and connected it to a
diesel generator, providing us with contact
to civilization as well as the usual frivolous
amenities that can come with a stable WiFi
connection. After several hours work, we
said our farewells to the ship’s crew, and
they departed to return to Curacao before
nightfall.
For seventeen days we conducted our
research without incident. Although it took
a ship to bring our team and equipment to
Verlaten, our maintenance required little
upkeep. On the seventh and fourteenth
days, aerial drones arrived to deposit more
supplies - food, several gallons of diesel
fuel, and clear drinking water. The twelfth
day brought news of a transatlantic hurricane aborting early and dissolving into
little more than a southward bound tropical storm. Rare, but such things do happen.
Curacao was gracious enough to contact
us with an offer to weather the storm in the
comfort of a hotel, but we declined, seeing
no need to trouble them for a few days of
rain when the fortress was intact enough to
keep us dry. The drones left from the second shipment on the fourteenth day, and
the rain came on the sixteenth.
October 2015