The mysterious island of the Ghost appeared as soon as it disappeared. NASA confirms

This island suddenly emerged at the beginning of 2023 near Ławica Kumani – an underwater mud volcano located about 24 kilometers from the east shore of the country. On February 4, it reached a maximum diameter of about 400 meters.

However, the newly created land was extremely unstable. According to NASA Earth Observatory, until December 2024 he almost completely erosion, disappearing from the water surface as suddenly as he appeared – like a ghost. Currently, the island probably no longer exists.

Mud volcano eruption

The bursts of the Kumani Ławica have been known to scientists since 1861. Since then, eight eruptions have been reported, each of which led to the creation of ephemeral islands. The most powerful explosion took place in 1950 and formed a 700 meter -width land massif and a height of 6 meters above sea level.

Kumani volcano is a so -called mud volcano. Unlike classic volcanoes, it does not throw away lava, but a hot mixture of mud, water and gas at pressure. These natural formations are common in Azerbaijan, which has one of the world’s largest clusters of such structures – over 300 mud chimneys both on land and under water. The reason is the location of the country in the collision zone of tectonic plates – Arab and Eurasian – which intensifies geothermal activity.

Although mud volcanoes are usually less violent than traditional, they contain large amounts of natural gas. One spark is enough to take a powerful explosion. An example would be an event from 2021, when a gigantic fire visible from a distance of many kilometers occurred in the vicinity of Kumani.

Not just the Caspian Sea. Here are other disappearing islands

The phenomenon of temporary islands is not limited to mud volcanoes. In 2015, the Hunga Tonga-Hungi Ha’apai volcano in the southern Pacific created an island with an area of nearly 2 km². This survived until January 2022, when the same Under Mountain caused one of the strongest eruptions in history, destroying the island and probably the unique microbiological life that arose on it.

In October 2023, a similar phenomenon took place off the coast of Japanese Iwo Jima – the island of Niijima emerged from the sea, which reached 100 meters wide and 20 meters high. Already in March 2024, however, drones registered her rapid disappearance under the surface of the water, despite the ongoing volcanic activity.