Recently, in October 2023, an undersea volcano eruption led to the creation of a new island near Japan’s Ogaswara island chain. Reportedly, this is one of those rare events that gives a glimpse into how nature works and how such islands are created due to Earth’s geology and seismic activity.
The new island, which has not been named yet, is about 100 meters in diameter and was created due to phreatomagmatic eruptions, which happen when magma comes into contact with seawater and creates explosive bursts of ash and steam.
Reportedly, the eruptions that led to the creation of this island started on October 21, 2023, about 1 kilometer off the coast of Iwoto island, which was formerly called Iwo Jima and became famous during World War II, as it witnessed one of the blodiest battles.
The new island has caught the attention of people across the globe, but it is not the first one to come into existence due to the volcanic activity in the area. The Ogasawara island chain, also known as the Bonin Islands, is a volcanic arc comprising more than 30 islands and islets, some of which are still active.
Fukashi Maeno, an associate professor at Tokyo University’s earthquake research institute, said he had confirmed that phreatomagmatic eruptions—a type of explosive eruption that results from magma interacting with water—had occurred about a kilometer off Iwoto, forming a landmass of about 100 meters in diameter, reported the Guardian. Maeno, who flew over the site at the end of October, told the Kyodo news agency that plumes of smoke and ash more than 50 meters high rose every few minutes during the eruptions.He also witnessed large rocks hurtling through the air and bands of brown pumice stones floating in the sea, which had changed colour as a result of the eruption, Kyodo reported.