Emerging newborn island in Japan can 'live long'

Earth has just given birth to a new island. The island is named Niijima. NASA satellite images show this 'newborn' island.

>>>New island in Japan continues to expand its area

Niijima is a volcanic island. It emerged from the Pacific a month ago, about 965km from southern Tokyo. The island is still quite small, according to a recent report it is only 13.8 hectares wide. It is about 60 - 80 meters above sea level.

The image above was taken on December 8 by the Center for Detailed Images provided by NASA Earth Observation Satellite. The blue color around the island is caused by volcanic and gaseous minerals mixed with seabed sediments, according to a NASA report.

Niijima "newborn" island in Japan.(Photo taken by NASA)

The thin patches of smoke in the image are ash and steam, both related to eruptions.

It is no coincidence that Niijima formed very close to Nishino Island - Shima, the larger area of ​​the image.

Both islands are part of the Izu - Bonin - Mariana arc system, forming a volcano in the western Pacific, south of Japan. Volcanoes form when two tectonic plates meet, sometimes slipping beneath other volcanic islands.

When the 'newborn' island was discovered for the first time, it sprayed a bunch of dust and thick steam. The Japanese coast guard saw it on August 20, by protecting the Japanese coast on the 20th, volcanic researchers were unsure how long the two islands would attach to each other.

"Most of these islands have a very short life because they are made of large ash and rocks that are easily eroded by the impact of waves," said Bruce Houghton, a volcanic professor. at the University of Hawaii told the Los Angeles Times at the time.

However, so far it seems that Niijima is likely to last long. A spokesman for the Japanese meteorological agency said the volcanic eruptions that formed the island are still continuing, and that it may be that Niijima will survive for many years - unless a large volcanic eruption blow it away.