New Island Forms from a Volcanic Eruption in the Red Sea

New Island Forms from a Volcanic Eruption in the Red Sea

MODIS image from NASA's satellites shows a new island and a volcanic plume in the Red Sea on Dec. 23, 2011. Photo from NASA's Earth Observatory.

MODIS image from NASA's satellites shows the same area of the Red Sea on Oct. 24, 2007. Photo from NASA's Earth Observatory.

A volcano eruption in the Red Sea that gave birth to a new island was recently captured by satellite images.

The Yemen Observer reported that fisherman observed a volcano eruption near Saba Island in the Red Sea on Monday, Dec. 19, 2011. Lava was reportedly expelled 20-30 meters into the air.

Satellite imagery from NASA had been capturing the ash plume from the submarine volcanic eruption for days before the MODIS image from Dec. 23 revealed the new island.

According to NASA's Earth Observatory, "the image from December 2011 shows an apparent island where there had previously been an unbroken water surface. A thick plume (of ash) rises from the island, dark near the bottom and light near the top, perhaps a mixture of volcanic ash and water vapor."

The island is the latest in the Zubair Group, a chain of 10 islands in the Red Sea. It is located between the Haycock and Rugged islands.

All of the islands of Zubair Group have been formed by submarine volcanic eruptions from a shallow platform in the Red Sea.