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First pictures of Tonga's newly-formed volcanic island

49 points by yitchelle 12y ago

tomcam 12y ago
It will be fascinating to see what kind of objective measurements we'll be able to get out of it in future decades--biological diversity, erosion properties, etc.
- giarc 12y ago
  That's if humans don't stomp out all the activity first. Given that Tonga has many other uninhabited islands, it could happen.
- plorg 12y ago
  Reports (e.g. [1], linked from the volcano/island's Wikipedia) suggest that the island will probably erode away quickly, as it is composed mainly of volcanic ash. If it does not, what you suggest would indeed be interesting to observe. [1] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/new-island-created-by-underwater-volcanic-eruption-in-tonga-may-soon-disappear-9993595.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/new-isla...
nashashmi 12y ago
An article on relatively when the island formed. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/underwater-volcano-creates-new-island-tonga-article-1.2100772 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/underwater-volcano-cre... Plus, wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunga_Tonga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunga_Tonga
pavel_lishin 12y ago
What happens if a new volcanic island forms in the middle of the ocean, outside of any nation's borders? Could someone theoretically claim it and start their own sovereign nation?
- Thrymr 12y ago
  Since every country claims a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone already, it's pretty unlikely that a new island will form that far from existing land.
  - joshdance 12y ago
    Would be cool to see a map of all the 'unclaimed' ocean space.
    - c3RlcGhlbnI_ 12y ago
      Wikipedia has one. There is a lot of it https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:International_waters.svg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:International_waters... (it is the dark blue)
      - Thrymr 12y ago
        > There is a lot of it Indeed, but most of it is very deep and won't be seeing any new islands soon.
        lotsofmangos 12y ago
        The Foundation Seamount Chain in the Pacific might. It has loads of poorly studied volcanoes, some of which are pretty shallow.
        IgorPartola 12y ago
        Now I'm curious, how does this work with man-made islands? As in, can I build a really big raft/barge, tow it out to one of these areas that are unclaimed, anchor it down, and call it my own nation? Given of course that it'd be a hell of an engineering project, and getting resources out there would be a total pain, but is such a thing legally feasible? Or am I better of just buying a cruise ship that never docks?
        12y ago
joelrunyon 12y ago
How new is it? I was under the impression that Kilauea in Hawaii was the "newest" (or Lōʻihi if you want to get technical)
- mtinkerhess 12y ago
  > The island, about 65 kilometres south-west of the main island of Tongatapu and the nation's capital, Nuku'alofa, started forming in January after a volcano began erupting.
- miahi 12y ago
  Looks like it's from January 2015[1][2] [1] http://rt.com/news/224879-island-tonga-volcanic-eruption/ http://rt.com/news/224879-island-tonga-volcanic-eruption/ [2] http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/65103454/tonga-volcanic-eruption-creates-new-island http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/65103454/tonga-vo...
- Thrymr 12y ago
  There are some other recent ones: http://www.economist.com/news/international/21641246-offshore-eruptions-can-create-new-islandsand-new-territorial-rights-depths http://www.economist.com/news/international/21641246-offshor... And Lōʻihi is still underwater, likely for thousands of years yet.
  - joelrunyon 12y ago
    I knew about Lōʻihi (that's what I meant by "technical")
Casseres 12y ago
I visited the capital of Tonga in 2009. It's a nice place and the locals are very friendly. If I had to choose an island nation to live on, I would choose Tonga. When I was briefly there, the locals weren't exposed to much gadetry, just basic cell phones. I had an iPhone then, and I was able to connect to a palace's unsecured WiFi.

49 points by yitchelle 12y ago

It will be fascinating to see what kind of objective measurements we'll be able to get out of it in future decades--biological diversity, erosion properties, etc.

giarc 12y ago
That's if humans don't stomp out all the activity first. Given that Tonga has many other uninhabited islands, it could happen.
plorg 12y ago
Reports (e.g. [1], linked from the volcano/island's Wikipedia) suggest that the island will probably erode away quickly, as it is composed mainly of volcanic ash. If it does not, what you suggest would indeed be interesting to observe. [1] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/new-island-created-by-underwater-volcanic-eruption-in-tonga-may-soon-disappear-9993595.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/new-isla...

nashashmi 12y ago

An article on relatively when the island formed. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/underwater-volcano-creates-new-island-tonga-article-1.2100772 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/underwater-volcano-cre... Plus, wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunga_Tonga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunga_Tonga

pavel_lishin 12y ago

What happens if a new volcanic island forms in the middle of the ocean, outside of any nation's borders? Could someone theoretically claim it and start their own sovereign nation?

Thrymr 12y ago
Since every country claims a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone already, it's pretty unlikely that a new island will form that far from existing land.
- joshdance 12y ago
  Would be cool to see a map of all the 'unclaimed' ocean space.
  - c3RlcGhlbnI_ 12y ago
    Wikipedia has one. There is a lot of it https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:International_waters.svg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:International_waters... (it is the dark blue)
    - Thrymr 12y ago
      > There is a lot of it Indeed, but most of it is very deep and won't be seeing any new islands soon.
      - lotsofmangos 12y ago
        The Foundation Seamount Chain in the Pacific might. It has loads of poorly studied volcanoes, some of which are pretty shallow.
      - IgorPartola 12y ago
        Now I'm curious, how does this work with man-made islands? As in, can I build a really big raft/barge, tow it out to one of these areas that are unclaimed, anchor it down, and call it my own nation? Given of course that it'd be a hell of an engineering project, and getting resources out there would be a total pain, but is such a thing legally feasible? Or am I better of just buying a cruise ship that never docks?
        12y ago

joelrunyon 12y ago

How new is it? I was under the impression that Kilauea in Hawaii was the "newest" (or Lōʻihi if you want to get technical)

mtinkerhess 12y ago
> The island, about 65 kilometres south-west of the main island of Tongatapu and the nation's capital, Nuku'alofa, started forming in January after a volcano began erupting.
miahi 12y ago
Looks like it's from January 2015[1][2] [1] http://rt.com/news/224879-island-tonga-volcanic-eruption/ http://rt.com/news/224879-island-tonga-volcanic-eruption/ [2] http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/65103454/tonga-volcanic-eruption-creates-new-island http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/65103454/tonga-vo...
Thrymr 12y ago
There are some other recent ones: http://www.economist.com/news/international/21641246-offshore-eruptions-can-create-new-islandsand-new-territorial-rights-depths http://www.economist.com/news/international/21641246-offshor... And Lōʻihi is still underwater, likely for thousands of years yet.
- joelrunyon 12y ago
  I knew about Lōʻihi (that's what I meant by "technical")

Casseres 12y ago

I visited the capital of Tonga in 2009. It's a nice place and the locals are very friendly. If I had to choose an island nation to live on, I would choose Tonga. When I was briefly there, the locals weren't exposed to much gadetry, just basic cell phones. I had an iPhone then, and I was able to connect to a palace's unsecured WiFi.