Earth

The Red Sea has a newborn island

NASA announced today (January 17, 2012) that an underwater eruption of a volcano in the Red Sea appears to have stopped, leaving behind a newborn island.

The new island in the Red Sea. Image acquired January 15, 2012. Image Credit: NASA

Click here to expand image above

The new island is part of the Zubair Islands in the Red Sea,a group of small islands formed from an underwater shield volcano. The new island is located about 60 kilometers (40 miles) off the coast of Yemen.

The island began forming in December 2011. It is essentially lava that has cooled after breaking through the surface of the Red Sea.

New island as it was being formed by an undersea volcano. Image is from December 29, 2011. Image Credit: NASA

Click here to expand image above

NASA’s Advanced Land Imager (ALI) aboard the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite acquired both of these natural-color images.

Bottom line: NASA announced on January 17, 2012 that a volcanic eruption in the Red Sea has stopped, leaving behind a newborn island.

Posted 
January 17, 2012
 in 
Earth

Like what you read?
Subscribe and receive daily news delivered to your inbox.

Your email address will only be used for EarthSky content. Privacy Policy
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

More from 

Deborah Byrd

View All