Cold magma gets relatively quickly weathered by elements, so volcanic islands tend to go through process of creation and destruction on multiple levels. Only wh

Cold magma gets relatively quickly weathered by elements, so volcanic islands tend to go through process of creation and destruction on multiple levels. Only when foliage creates thick and cohesive enough layer to slow down weathering they become more long term (till new eruption swallows that foliage and here we go again). Ie Iceland get from time to time new small islands created and they disappear by same process usually within few years.