A team of researchers has recently made a fascinating discovery – a new island in the Caspian Sea that emerged seemingly out of nowhere. The currently unnamed island, located southwest of Maly Zhemchuzhny Island in Russia, was first identified in November of 2024 through satellite images. Despite initial skepticism, an expedition later confirmed the existence of the island, though researchers were unable to land on it due to shallow waters and adverse weather conditions.
The island’s emergence is attributed to a combination of factors including cyclical sea changes, climate change, and shifting tectonic plates. The rise of new islands in the Caspian Sea is linked to fluctuations in water levels, with past periods of low water levels dating back to the 1930s, 1970s, and 2010s. Climate change, affecting evaporation rates and global temperatures, plays a role in these fluctuations. Tectonic plate movements are also considered to influence sea level changes.
The future of the newly discovered island looks promising, with researchers anticipating it to serve as a valuable habitat for rare bird species and Caspian seals. Plans for further exploration and naming of the island are underway, with a scheduled expedition set for the latter part of 2025. The team from the P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology is eager to uncover more about this mysterious island and its potential ecological significance.
