You get a submarine/tunnelboring/thermonuclearbomb, sink it, tunnel a little into the crust, and detonate. New continent for people to populate. I put this under population control because of the apocalyptic tsunamis it woud create if it worked.
-- davidcreede, Jul 24 2003

So on the one hand, you are devastating the onshore populations of any number of continents,
but on the other hand, you are creating thousands of tiny radioactive bits of rock that the newly itinerant population simply *catch* on the way down and float around on.
Kinda like a radioactive raft for one.
Hmmmm
-- gnomethang, Jul 24 2003


Someone should mention that nature is already doing this for us, only without the radiation... A new island is forming to the east of the Big Island of Hawaii, but it's not due to break surface for another few thousand years.

To get an idea of how deep the ocean is around Hawaii, you first need to realize that the Big Island is the tallest mountain on earth, when measured from its base to its sumit. It may not be the highest mountain, but it is by far the tallest.
-- Payback, Jul 24 2003


If I fund the project do I get to rule the island?
-- DeathNinja, Jul 24 2003


Depends on how you measure it [Payback]. If measured from base to top, yes, Mauna Kea is the tallest. If measured from the center of the Earth, though, then Chimborazo, a volcano in the Andes of Ecuador is the tallest as its peak is the absolute farthest from Earth's center.
-- bristolz, Aug 17 2003


Good idea, but instead use a really big conventional warhead to avoid radiation.
-- croissantz, May 01 2005


Put an insulating blanket (air or some exotic material) over the top of the undersea magma plume. That way the magma inside the growing mountain can stay liquid all the way to the surface. bun for good title and creativity.
-- sninctown, May 11 2006


Hey, you all realise that magma is itself pretty radioactive, right?
-- BunsenHoneydew, May 14 2006


Damn, [BunsenHoneydew], researching that has led me through Marmes Man and carbon dating. I understand that the melting is given to be the result of radioctive elements decaying - does the magma itself still rate pretty high on the geiger counter?
-- normzone, May 15 2006


Could you wait just 1 more week, please. My daughter is due to leave Oahu on the 21st, where it has been raining for nearly 3 months, and they've had 1 tsunami warning already, now this. I just want her home safely. Then, good luck with that.
-- oyea6, May 16 2006



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