Metis Shoal, also known as Lateiki Island, is a

volcanic island Geologically, a high island or volcanic island is an island of volcanic origin. The term can be used to distinguish such islands from low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the uplifting of coral reefs (which have often formed ...

at the top of a

submarine volcano Submarine volcanoes are underwater vents or fissures in the Earth's surface from which magma can erupt. Many submarine volcanoes are located near areas of tectonic plate formation, known as mid-ocean ridges. The volcanoes at mid-ocean ridges ...

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

, located between the islands of Kao and

Late Late may refer to: * LATE, an acronym which could stand for: ** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia ** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law ** Local average treatment effect, ...

. The current island formed in October 2019, when a smaller island disappeared after 24 years.

History

The shoal was named by the captain of the HMS ''Metis'' in 1875, who found a small volcanic island protruding from the ocean. The island was reported as being 200m long and 37m high by HMS ''Sappho'' in 1878, and as 480m high in 1890, but had eroded away completely by 1898, leaving a shoal covered by 4m of water. Eruptions and short-lived islands have been reported as far back as 1781, according to the

Global Volcanism Program The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program (GVP) documents Earth's volcanoes and their eruptive history over the past 10,000 years. The mission of the GVP is to document, understand, and disseminate information about global volcanic a ...

. In December 1967 an eruption produced another short-lived island, which disappeared by the end of 1968. An eruption in 1979 discharged large amounts of pumice, and formed an island 16km in diameter. The new island was named "Lateiki" ("lies besides Late") and claimed by Tonga in a flag-raising ceremony, but soon eroded beneath the sea surface.

1995–2019 island

During an eruption in 1995, a new island (latitude: 19.18°S, longitude: 174.8°W) appeared which had a diameter of 280 metre and a height of 43 metre following the growth of a lava dome above the surface. On 7 December 2006 the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) flew over Metis Shoal and Home Reef at the request of volcanologists from the Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences (IGNS) to take photos of Metis Shoal. Another eruption happened in October 2019. This eruption was first reported by Tongan vessel MV Ngutulei on the morning of 14 October 2019 and continued for more than two weeks. Photos were later taken by aircraft from

Real Tonga Real Tonga, stylised as "REALtonga", was an airline that operated domestic flights within Tonga. It commenced operations in March 2013, becoming the twelfth airline to operate domestic flights in Tonga since air services began. In 2020 the airlin ...

and

Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 30 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily around and within the Pacific ...

, which showed that Metis Shoal had completely sunk.

New island

The Tonga Geological Service announced on 6 November 2019 that the eruption in October produced a new and bigger island, about 120 metres west of the island which disappeared. The new island was estimated to be 100 metres wide and 400 metres long, which is three times bigger than the previous one.

References

External links

* {{coord, 19.183, S, 174.867, W, display=title, source:eswiki 1995 in science 1995 in Tonga 2019 in science 2019 in Tonga Active volcanoes Submarine volcanoes Volcanoes of Tonga Ephemeral islands Uninhabited islands of Tonga

History

1995–2019 island

New island

See also

References

External links