The world got its newest island recently after an undersea volcano erupted off the coast of the Japanese island of Iwo Jima in the Pacific Ocean. The rise of the unnamed island was documented in pictures taken by Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force on November 1. According to reports, the images show a small eruption sending a dark cloud of ash above the small island, which is now part of the Ogasawara island chain.
Here’s a list of islands created in recent times either by volcanism, erosion, glacial retreat or other mechanisms.
Surtsey
Surtsey is an uninhabited volcanic island located in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago off the southern coast of Iceland. It is the southernmost point of the Nordic island nation. It was formed in a volcanic eruption which began 130 metres below sea level, and reached the surface on November 14, 1963. The eruption lasted until June 5, 1967, when the island reached its biggest size of 2.7 sq km. Since then, wave erosion has caused the island to steadily reduce in size. As of 2012, its surface area was 1.3 sq km. The most recent survey in 2007 shows the island’s maximum elevation at 155 metres above sea level.
Uunartoq Qeqertaq
Uunartoq Qeqertaq, or Warming Island in English, is an island off the east central coast of Greenland, 550 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. It became recognised as an island only in September 2005, by US explorer Dennis Schmitt. It was attached to the mainland of Liverpool Land by glacial ice even in 2002, when the ice shelves began retreating rapidly in this area, so that by 2005 it was no longer attached to the mainland. Members of the scientific community believe this newly discovered island is a direct result of global warming.
Anak Krakatoa
Another noted new island is Anak Krakatau, a volcanic island in Indonesia. On December 29, 1927, Anak Krakatoa first emerged from the caldera formed in 1883 by the explosive volcanic eruption that destroyed the island of Krakatoa. There has been sporadic eruptive activity at the site since the late 20th century, culminating with a large underwater collapse of the volcano that caused a deadly tsunami in December 2018. Due to its young age, the island is one of several in the area that are of interest to, and the subject of extensive study by, volcanologists. Ample rainforests have grown there, although they are often destroyed by frequent eruptions. A population of many wild animals, including insects, birds, humanborne rats, and even monitor lizards, have also settled there.
Metis Shoal
Metis Shoal, also known as Lateiki Island, is a volcanic island at the top of a submarine volcano in Tonga, located between the islands of Kao and Late. The current island formed in October 2019, when a smaller island disappeared after 24 years. The shoal was named by the captain of HMS Metis in 1875, who found a small volcanic island protruding from the ocean. The island was reported as being 200 metres long and 37 metres high by HMS Sappho in 1878, and as 480 metres high in 1890, but had eroded away completely by 1898, leaving a shoal covered by 4 metres of water. Eruptions and short-lived islands have been reported as far back as 1781, according to the Global Volcanism Programme. In December 1967, an eruption produced another short-lived island, which disappeared by the end of 1968. An eruption in 1979 discharged large amounts of pumice, and formed an island 16 km in diametre. The new island was named ‘Lateiki’ and claimed by Tonga in a flag-raising ceremony, but soon eroded beneath the sea surface.
Didicas Volcano
Didicas Volcano is an active volcanic island in the province of Cagayan in northern Philippines. The island, which was a submarine volcano and re-emerged from the sea in 1952, is 22 kilometres northeast of Camiguin Island, one of the Babuyan Islands in Luzon Strait. Before 1952, the volcano first breached the ocean surface in 1857. Didicas is topped with a lava dome with an elevation of 228 metres and a base diameter of 1,200 metres at sea level. It is at the southern end of the Luzon Volcanic Arc, and like all the volcanoes in the Philippines, is part of the Pacific ring of fire.
