Another phoenixlike island has emerged from the volcanic ash of the Ring of Fire this time off the coast of Japan’s Ogasawara Islands, a sprawling archipelago also known as the Bonin Islands.
The new landmass in the Pacific Ocean is the youngest of all its neighbors and was formed from an ongoing underwater volcanic eruption that began on October 21st.
Volcanologist Setsuya Nakada of the University of Tokyo told The Japan Times that the underwater volcanic eruption that formed the island began as a “vertical jet” of solidified magma shooting high above the waves.
Thereafter, the outbreak was sustained by relatively continuous bursts.
A photo of the submarine breakout on November 3rd. (Setsuya Nakada/The Japan Times)
As all this debris fell back into the ocean as lava mixed with a porous, lowdensity material called pumice, the rock mound grew until it was high enough to appear like a periscope from the depths.
On Nov. 3, the underwater volcano changed direction and spewed mostly ash, says Nakada, who flew over the site that day.
The young landmass lies within sight of Iwo Jima, an island about 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) south of Tokyo that currently has no permanent residents. This island was once the site of a famous battle between American and Japanese forces during World War II.
Its new neighbor is just over a kilometer offshore, and although the fresh pumice doesn’t rise far above the waterline, it was about two kilometers across on Friday.
The only people who can admire the new view of Iwo Jima are those stationed at a Japan SelfDefense Forces base.
The breakout continues but appears to have peaked and is calming down somewhat.
(Setsuya Nakada/The Japan Times)
While the new landmass could grow slightly in the coming days, any pumice not cemented by lava flows would be eroded, raising questions about how much of the island might remain over time.
According to Nakada, underwater volcanic eruptions in this part of the world usually only last about a month.
While much is known about the active land volcanoes that line the Ring of Fire, an active zone on the Pacific Ocean, much less is known about the vents and fissures on the ocean floor.
Scientists estimate that there are more than a million underwater volcanoes worldwide, but many of them are likely extinct and even the active ones are often too deep to allow observations from above water.
In fact, one of the largest eruptions in Japanese history was the result of an underwater eruption in 1924 although the volcano’s location was not determined until much later.
Only in the last few decades have scientists finally managed to capture underwater volcanoes in action.
The observation of island formation from these eruptions is even rarer, although it provides incredible insight into how many of these Pacific islands, including the Hawaiian Islands, were formed millions of years ago.
In 2015, for example, a new island was created in the South Pacific, offering geologists, volcanologists, biologists and ecologists an incredible living experience.
In 2022 the island was gone, destroyed by another eruption.
Who knows how long the new one will last in Japan.
“There is a possibility that the (new) island could merge with Iwo Jima if the eruption continues,” Nakada told The Japan Times.
Translated by Mateus Lynniker from ScienceAlert