A new baby island?
By Denise
@petatonicsca (7070)
Japan
July 30, 2022 11:56pm CST
For several weeks, discolored water has been observed offshore of Iojima, a volcanic island south of Tokyo. (Maybe you spell it Iwo Jima.) Discolored seawater is often a sign of underwater volcanic activity with the gases interacting with seawater. Anyway, from two days ago there has been steam rising from the water there in columns, indicating an eruption. There are no webcams in the area, but fishermen have observed and recorded it. Also, there are a couple of satellites that show enough surface detail of the world to see a very very small possible island (maybe the size of your house or even just a room) sticking its head above the surface.
This can be caused by two things. One is that the sea bottom has uplifted, bringing part of an existing undersea volcano (seamount) to the surface, The other is that the eruptive material itself is building up. Here, there is a lot of deformation, so it is likely that uplift has caused the island to show itself-- it's happened before in the same area, but such islands are often eroded away as quickly as they come.
Watch out for a tiny new baby volcano island!
7 people like this
8 responses
@luisga814 (7138)
• Quezon City, Philippines
31 Jul 22
Oh! That will be a possible baby island.
1 person likes this
@petatonicsca (7070)
• Japan
2 Aug 22
No, they usually don't get named until we are sure they are established. This one was eroded away.
2 people like this
@misunderstood_zombie (8142)
• United States
31 Jul 22
That is so cool that a birth of an island is being seen from the beginning.
@petatonicsca (7070)
• Japan
2 Aug 22
Japan has Nishinoshima, as well, where we got to watch the birth of an island that is now 4km3.
@lifecoachjerusalem (1285)
• Israel
31 Jul 22
This would be very interesting to see an island being born. Post some pictures too!
@lifecoachjerusalem (1285)
• Israel
2 Aug 22
@petatonicsca I think that the lava will continue and the erosion will continue but sooner or later an island w poke up over the ocean
@petatonicsca (7070)
• Japan
3 Aug 22
@lifecoachjerusalem It might, or it might decide to come out at another spot, if you look at the history of eruptions there. They are short and explosive, and they can happen all over the island or in the water around it, since it's a caldera with little fingers of magma coming up all around it.
1 person likes this
@jstory07 (139976)
• Roseburg, Oregon
31 Jul 22
That sounds really neat. I hope it appears real soon.