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Friday Find: A new Island in the Pacific

By tfk on November 17, 2006.

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In August we heard reports of a new island emerging from the Pacific Ocean. A boat tried to investigate, but its engine got clogged by pumice floating away from the volcano. At long last, we have art to show what a baby island looks like.
In the image reproduced here, you can see the top of the island emerging from the sea, with an infrared image in the corner, showing the head from the molten rock that formed the island. The greener areas in the ocean to the upper right of the island are areas where sediment is mixing with water, possibly from hydrothermal activity.

According to the Université Libre Bruxelles, the island has been shrinking since October. You can download an updated coverage of the area for Google Earth. That image shows the pumice floe, but the new island itself is obscured by steam.

The island emerged from the Home Reef, south of Late Island.

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Planet Earth

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Thanks for posting about this. It inspired me to read up on Surtsey, which was an enormous event I recall from my childhood.