Underwater Volcanic Eruption Creates New Island In Tonga
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The Polynesian Kingdom of Tonga is home to a new island. The land mass results from the lava and ash spewed by the Home Reef seamount, an undersea volcano that came to life on September 10, 2022. While the volcano has been erupting steadily since, it poses no risk to the residents of the South Pacific archipelago.
The circular island began to form about 33 feet (10 meters) above sea level within just 11 hours of the initial eruption. The newly-formed land mass measured just one acre (about 4,000 square meters) on September 14, 2022. But recent satellite imagery from the US Geological Services indicates that the baby island now extends an impressive 6 acres (24,000 square meters)!
Before packing your bags, be warned that the emergent island is far from a tropical paradise. In fact, it is not even sturdy enough to walk upon yet. "It's more like a large layer of ash, steam, and pumice over the ocean," Rennie Vaiomounga, a geologist at the Tonga Geological Services, told the Washington Post.
NASA researchers do not believe the new island will be around for too long. Land masses from underwater eruptions typically get eroded by ocean waves and currents within a short period of time. However, there have been some exceptions. An island created by the 1995 eruption of the nearby Late'iki volcano lasted 25 years. Whether the newly-born Home Reef island will survive for that long remains to be seen.
Resources: NPR.com, Washingtonpost.com, earthobservatory.nasa.com, space.com
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145 Comments
profireboyalmost 2 yearsmy smart mind says that this could be a risk to people who are nearby due to the ash clouds and might pollute the water.- profireboyalmost 2 yearsI would not go too fast. if more and more islands come up, it will either drain the supply, or the islands will be flooded. not to mention that this could be bad for the investment and could take our oxygen.
itisjosiealmost 2 yearswe do not do not enough land. And I do agree, SO COOL!!!!!!!- profireboyalmost 2 yearsthis might not be a place for living because there is no soil for life.
- profireboyalmost 2 yearsi think we have enough land
gggg65almost 2 yearsno we don't have enough land if want go somewhere like aisa or afica we have boats and that is boreading if we have alot land we can walk or dive our car or fly on a plane.
yukiialmost 2 yearsNot to be rude but I pretty sure we have enough land and also don't planes fly over water? Cars also travel on the land we already have, its also confusing because I don't think people would want to walk thousands or millions of miles just to get to one place.
- profireboyalmost 2 yearsif it is permanent, I am guessing people will start exploring to see if it is safe. if it is, they will probably put wildlife on the island. I am a bit worried about this because it might decrease the water on our planet.
- yukiialmost 2 yearsI agree :(
joshuakempalmost 2 yearsI feel sorry for the fish because now they have less space- joshuakempalmost 2 yearsI wonder if the island will get bigger because of the water
- joshuakempalmost 2 yearsi would love to swim of the beaches
- joshuakempalmost 2 yearsi wish i could visit this island