The formation of the new island with a diameter of 100 meters, which is added to the Japanese chain of Ogasawa Islands in the western Pacific Ocean, actually began with a volcanic eruption last month.
In the pictures taken by the Japanese Meteorological Institute helicopter, which conducted a reconnaissance flight over the island, it was observed that the lava rose to a height of 50 meters, accompanied by dense smoke and explosions that occur every minute or two.
Fukashi Maeno, of the University of Tokyo’s Earthquake Research Institute, says that in his observations on the island, he saw rocks blown into the air by the explosion and brown pumice stones floating in the sea.
Maino states that there has been volcanic activity in the area since July of last year. It is believed that if the volcano under the new island continues to erupt, the island may expand in size.
How is the island formed as a result of a volcanic eruption?
In fact, 75% of the world’s lava that comes from underground each year comes from fissures under the ocean.
These volcanic eruptions develop in areas where there are continental plates in the oceans, where tectonic movements intensify.
Although most eruptions are caused by magma flooding from deep fissures in the ocean, they can form small islands when they form in shallow water.
Such eruptions, where lava comes into contact with water, are called “magmatic eruptions.” Until recently, the archipelago that makes up Japan was thought to consist of four main islands and about 6,000 islands, most of which are uninhabited. However, geologists announced that this number may double this year.
As a result of research conducted by the Japanese Geospatial Information Administration using digital mapping technology, it was revealed that there may be 14,125 islands. In 2013, an island was formed with the same eruption of another undersea volcano, and because of its shape, the island was likened to the cartoon character Snoopy.
Experts in Japan also witness islands disappearing from time to time. It was revealed that Isanbe Hanakita Kojima Island, which is 500 meters north of Hokkaido Island, quietly disappeared in 2018.
The newly formed island formed near an island formerly known as Iwo Jima and now known as Ioto, and is one of 111 active volcanoes in Japan.
Ioto has a beautiful, bloody history that changed the course of World War II for Japan. The Japanese forces, who dug trenches and hid in the volcanic rocks on the island against the American forces that landed on the island in February and March 1945, fought to the death for 36 days, and 7,000 American soldiers and about 18,000 Japanese soldiers lost their lives.
The image of an American soldier raising the American flag was immortalized on Iwoto Island, and the events on the island were turned into a film entitled “Letters from Iwo Jima” by director Clint Eastwood in 2006.
The US Army, which had seized the island and controlled the Pacific, later captured Okinawa, paving the way for Japan’s defeat.
(tags for translation) Japan