Volcano raises new island far south of Japan

[Buster's Uncle]

Volcano raises new island far south of Japan
Associated Press
By ELAINE KURTENBACH 12 hours ago



An erupting undersea volcano forms a new island off the coast of Nishinoshima, a small uninhabited island, in the southern Ogasawara chain of islands in this November 21, 2013 picture provided by the Japanese Coast Guard. (Japanese Coast Guard via Yahoo News)



TOKYO (AP) — A volcanic eruption has raised an island in the seas to the far south of Tokyo, the Japanese coast guard and earthquake experts said.

Advisories from the coast guard and the Japan Meteorological Agency said the islet is about 200 meters (660 feet) in diameter. It is just off the coast of Nishinoshima, a small, uninhabited island in the Ogasawara chain, which is also known as the Bonin Islands.

The approximately 30 islands are 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of Tokyo, and along with the rest of Japan are part of the seismically active Pacific "Ring of Fire."

The coast guard issued an advisory Wednesday warning of heavy black smoke from the eruption. Television footage seen Thursday showed heavy smoke, ash and rocks exploding from the crater, as steam billowed into the sky.

A volcanologist with the coast guard, Hiroshi Ito, told the FNN news network that it was possible the new island might be eroded away.

"But it also could remain permanently," he said.

The last time the volcanos in the area are known to have erupted was in the mid-1970s. Much of the volcanic activity occurs under the sea, which extends thousands of meters deep along the Izu-Ogasawara-Marianas Trench.

Japan's chief government spokesman welcomed the news of yet another bit, however tiny, of new territory.

"This has happened before and in some cases the islands disappeared," Yoshihide Suga said when asked if the government was planning on naming the new island.

"If it becomes a full-fledged island, we would be happy to have more territory."

The Japanese archipelago has thousands of islands. In some cases, they help anchor claims to wide expanses of ocean overlying potentially lucrative energy and mineral resources.

Japan has plans to build port facilities and transplant fast-growing coral fragments onto Okinotorishima, two rocky outcroppings even further south of Tokyo, to boost its claim in a territorial dispute with China.


http://news.yahoo.com/volcano-raises-island-far-south-japan-054228644.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Volcanic Blast Births New Island in Japan
LiveScience.com
By Becky Oskin, Staff Writer  5 hours ago



A new volcanic island, called Nishino-shima, emerged from the ocean on Nov. 20, 2013.



Ash and lava fragments blasting out of the ocean announced the birth of a new volcanic island about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) south of Tokyo in the Pacific Ocean.

The black cone is the newest member of the Bonin Islands, a chain of tropical and subtropical islands created by volcanic eruptions that includes Iwo Jima.

The eruption was heralded by several moderate earthquakes (around magnitude 4.5) on Nov. 18. Billowing steam and boiling seas appeared on Nov. 20 as the island raised above the sea offshore of Nishino-shima, a small island that marks the summit of a massive underwater volcano, according to the Japanese Coast Guard, which monitored the eruption by air.

The island is still small: The volcanic crater is about 500 feet (150 meters) in diameter and the island itself is only 650 feet (200 m) wide and 980 feet (300 m) long, the Coast Guard reported on its website today (Nov. 21). The ash plume shot 2,000 feet (600 m) into the air.

This is the first time the giant submarine volcano beneath the sea has erupted since a major outpouring in 1973 to 1974 that created another small island, according to the Coast Guard.

Oceanic volcanic eruptions can leave lasting landmarks or vanish beneath pounding waves. The most famous example is Surtsey Island near Iceland, which appeared in 1973. Wind and waves have shrunk Surtsey nearly by half in the past four decades. Without fresh lava, the island could disappear completely.

If the new volcano, which has not yet been named, does erupt long enough to build a permanent island, it could play a role in ongoing territory disputes between Japan and China, according to news reports.

"If it becomes a full-fledged island, we would be happy to have more territory," government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told The Associated Press.


http://news.yahoo.com/volcanic-blast-births-island-japan-181547318.html