The Earth has a brand new island. Located in the Central Tonga Islands, it has an area of just 24,000 sq m (around six acres) and may not stick around for too long.
The as yet unnamed piece of land was formed when an underwater volcano in the south-west Pacific awoke on September 10, and in the days since has been oozing lava, according to NASA Earth Observatory. It is situated on a seafloor ridge stretching from New Zealand to Tonga that has the highest density of underwater volcanoes in the world.
Over the following days, lava continued to pour and the island was 170m (558ft) in diameter on September 16. By September 20, the island had grown to cover 24,000 sq m.
The formation of the new island was captured through imagery taken by the Landsat 9 satellite on September 14. In the NASA image a vast plume of steam and ash can be seen drifting away from the volcano. You can also see a cloud of discoloured water growing around the landmass.
Sadly, the island might not stick around for long. Weathering and erosion from waves and currents can quickly degrade volcanic rock, meaning newly formed islands often disappear quickly.
Some new islands, however, do manage to survive. In 2014, an underwater volcano in this part of the Pacific erupted and forged the sizable island of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai. The island has already fostered a thriving ecosystem, complete with pink flowering vegetation, nesting sooty tern birds, and barn owls – much to the surprise of scientists.
“The volcano poses low risks to the aviation community and the residents of Vava‘u and Ha‘apai,” the Tonga Geological Service said in an update issued on September 20. “All mariners are, however, advised to sail beyond 4 kilometers away from Home Reef until further notice.”
