It appeared a few weeks ago in the Pacific Ocean. What do you know about the newest island in the world?

A few weeks ago, NASA spotted the emergence of a new island in the Pacific Ocean, close to the Australian coast. While it is not the first time that islands appear in this way, volcanoes and earthquakes cause this natural phenomenon.

Volcanoes and earthquakes are geological phenomena responsible for the renewal of the earth's crust, and the main reason for which the world acquired its familiar geographical shape. On the other hand, these phenomena did not stop carrying out their natural mission of bringing new lands into existence and disappearing others under the water.

This happened recently in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Australia, where a new island emerged from the ocean, following the eruption of a sea volcano, according to NASA, while the age of this island remains unknown to researchers.

A new island in the Pacific Ocean

Not far from the eastern coast of Australia, and on the maritime borders of the Tonga archipelago, the waters of the Pacific Ocean witnessed the birth of a new rocky island, following the eruption of the marine volcano "Home Reef" at the bottom of the ocean, whose melting rose to the surface, to form the island's land.

According to media reports , this island is located at the intersection of three slowly overlapping tectonic plates, which caused underwater earthquakes, which led to its growth clearly, as it moved from 4 thousand square meters to 24 thousand square meters within one week, equivalent to two stadiums to Three football fields.

The authorities of the Tonga archipelago said that the new island "poses a threat to air and sea traffic, especially for the residents of the two neighboring island groups, Kavavu and Hapai." All forms of navigation within the 4,000-kilometre radius of the island were also prohibited.

While this is not the first time that the Home Reef volcano has brought new islands into existence, according to NASA, "the Home Reef volcano witnessed four recorded eruptions, especially between 1852 and 1857, when small temporary islands were formed. During the 1984 and 2006 eruptions, It also produced ephemeral islands with cliffs 50 to 70 meters high.

How do volcanoes form new islands?

The formation of new islands is not limited to the aforementioned volcano. In August 2021, the Japanese Coast Guard monitored the emergence of a new island 1,200 km south of Tokyo, which rose to the surface following the eruption of a marine volcano in the area.

Scientists unanimously agree that volcanoes were one of the main factors in drawing the current geography of the Earth, as the continents were one mass about 210 million years ago, and during time the Earth’s crust split into several parts called “tectonic plates” that drifted away from each other and this movement resulted in the formation of continents the world, and the continental islands, such as Madagascar and Greenland.

The movement of tectonic plates creates two types of friction between them. The collision that causes earthquakes, or the heavier plate burrows under its lighter counterpart, which causes volcanoes.

The islands may be produced as a result of these volcanic eruptions, and the islands of Japan are a prominent example of this, as they resulted from the overlapping of the North American and Eurasian light plates, in addition to the Philippine plate and the heavier Pacific plate.