![[Img #74806]](https://thelatestnews.world/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Intergalactic-carbon-in-our-bodies-150x150.jpg)
Jan. 10 () –
An island emerged from the Caspian Sea after a mud volcano erupted in early 2023. By the end of 2024, it had nearly eroded and receded from view as an apparition.
Powerful eruptions from the Kumani Bank mud volcano have produced similar transient islands several times since its first recorded eruption in 1861. Also known as Chigil-Deniz, the volcano is located about 25 kilometers off the east coast of Azerbaijan, reports the NASA Earth Observatory in a statement.
The OLI (Operational Land Imager) and OLI-2 on the Landsat 8 and 9 satellites captured these images showing how the island emerges and shrinks. As of November 2022 (left), the volcano’s crest remained below the sea surface. By February 14, 2023 (center), an island had appeared and a plume of sediment moved away from it. Additional satellite observations suggest the island emerged between January 30 and February 4 and was about 400 meters wide, said University of Adelaide geologist Mark Tingay. By the end of 2024 (right), a very small portion of the Kumani Bank was visible above the water.
The eight previously recorded eruptions on the Kumani Bank occurred in bursts that lasted less than two days and produced islands of varying sizes and longevity. An event in May 1861 resulted in an island just 87 meters wide and 3.5 meters above the water. This was eroded in early 1862. The strongest eruption, in 1950, produced an island 700 meters wide and 6 meters high.
MUD VOLCANOES
Mud volcanoes are “strange and wonderful features that remain largely understudied and little understood“Tingay said at a seminar for the Geological Society of Australia. Most of these volcanoes, which measure from a couple of meters to several kilometers in diameter, are found in areas with active tectonics or high sedimentation rates. They are places where subsurface pressure can build up and force a mixture of fluids, gases and sediments to the surface. And these characteristics may not be unique to this planet; Scientists believe that some muddy mounds in the northern lowlands of Mars may have formed when sediments rich in gas and liquid rose to the surface.
On Earth, Azerbaijan is unusual for its high concentration of mud volcanoes. Geologists have counted more than 300 in eastern Azerbaijan and offshore in the Caspian Sea, and most of them are on land. The region lies within a convergence zone where the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide.
Mud volcano eruptions can be dangerous, with the potential to expel large amounts of material (and even flames) in a short period of time. Azerbaijan’s mud volcanoes are linked to the vast hydrocarbon system of the South Caspian Basin and are known to emit flammable gases such as methane along with characteristic muddy sludge. It is not known for certain whether the Kumani Bank eruption of 2023 was fiery, but the Previous eruptions from this and other nearby mud volcanoes have sent towers of flame hundreds of meters high.
Add Comment