The birth of a new island

where is it appearing? In the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Precisely in the archipelago of Tonga. It started after the underwater volcano Home Reef erupted a few days ago. This is how we can see the birth of a new island.

The island appeared just 11 hours after the eruptive activity began. Since then it has not stopped growing. It grows thanks to the mixture of lava, steam and ash expelled by the volcano.

The birth of a new island can be followed live today.
The birth of a new island can be followed live currently.

Ash and steam

At first, the island measured a little more than 4,000 square meters. So said the images obtained by the Sentinel-2 satellite of the European Space Agency. However, in a matter of days, it multiplied in size. By September 20, it covered an area 9 times larger.

NASA’s Landsat 9 satellite also tracks it. It shows that the surrounding sea has become discolored. It is due to acidic water containing volcanic rock particles and sulfur. The birth of a new island brings increased eruptive activity. It already has 21 volcanic events, including an ash eruption, in the last 24 hours. The island rises 15 meters above sea level.

Specialist Rennie Vaiomounga provided more details. He says the mass that makes up the new island “is more like a large layer of ash, steam, and pumice over the ocean.” It is too early to tell whether the island will hold long enough for its mass to solidify completely.

NASA is tracking it via its satellites.
NASA tracks you through its satellites.

Short life

Previous eruptions of submarine volcanoes have generated islands that are usually short-lived. In some cases, they remained for decades. In 2006, an eruption at Home Reef itself formed an island that disappeared two years later. Then the volcano’s summit collapsed underwater, according to Smithsonian Institution records.

Late’iki volcano, also in Tonga, produced an island in 2020. It disappeared just two months later. However, an earlier eruption at the same volcano formed an island that stood for 25 years, NASA reports.

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