A brief afternoon stroll along Mobile Bay revealed an interesting oddity: a fist-sized hunk of floating rock. The floating volcanic rock, scientifically called pumice, is formed from lava with high amounts of water and gases mixed in. The lava cools before the gases can escape, creating a light-weight rock with air bubbles inside. Like a life jacket on a human, the air bubbles keep the pumice afloat. Apparently proximity to a volcano is not necessary for the discovery of these rocks; natives of the Mobile Bay shore have commonly found them. Pumice is also very common on the volcanic island of Santorini in Greece.
Pumice floating in the fountain.
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