Title: Unveiling the Mystery of the ‘Ghost Island’
Mud volcanoes, a phenomenon not commonly seen in North America but prevalent in volcanic regions worldwide, have quietly shaped the Earth’s landscape over millennia.
Geologist Mark Tingay recently made a fascinating discovery in November 2024 when he observed the formation of a peculiar ‘ghost island’ caused by an underwater mud volcano named Kumani Bank. This island, located 15 miles off the coast of Azerbaijan, emerged in early 2023 but had significantly diminished in size by the end of 2024.
The term “volcano” encompasses a diverse range of geologic occurrences, from the more conventional red and gray volcanoes to the intriguing cryovolcanoes found on certain moons in our Solar System. Among these, mud volcanoes stand out for their subtle yet significant role in geologic processes, particularly near tectonic plate boundaries in regions like Italy, Japan, Trinidad, and Azerbaijan.
While mud volcanoes can pose risks due to their eruptive nature, they are typically less explosive compared to traditional volcanoes. These events involve a mixture of mud, gases, and fluids that slowly build up pressure underground until they find a pathway to the surface, akin to air escaping from a punctured tire.
In addition to their destructive potential, mud volcanoes can also be agents of creation. Azerbaijan, situated at the intersection of the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates, boasts around 300 mud volcanoes, both on land and in the Caspian Sea. The emergence of Kumani Bank, the ‘ghost island’, represents a unique instance of this process, with the mud volcano briefly rising above sea level in a violent eruption before receding back underwater.
NASA’s satellite imagery captured the evolution of Kumani Bank, showcasing its brief appearance as an island in early 2023 before its subsequent decline. This phenomenon serves as a reminder of the dynamic forces at work beneath the Earth’s surface, constantly reshaping the world around us.
With the largest eruption occurring in 1950, creating an island 700 meters across and almost six meters high, the emergence of Kumani Bank in 2023 is just the latest chapter in this ongoing island-forming drama. “I find it remarkable that an island, approximately 400 meters wide, can suddenly appear within the span of a few hours!” Tingay wrote on Threads. “You would think that some fishermen would have exclaimed ‘What the heck? That island wasn’t there yesterday!’ and shared some photos online […]. A new approximately 10-hectare island simply materializes one day, and nobody even seems to care. Well, I care!”
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