Introducing “Nishinoshima”: A Newly Formed Island in Japan!
Check out the news video “New footage of research in Nishinoshima. Nishinoshima growing to the size of 60 Tokyo Domes!(西之島調査の最新映像 東京ドーム約60倍に成長中!)” publicized by FNN.jp Prime Online.
Nishinoshima is a newborn desert island that was born in the 2013 undersea volcano eruption, swallowing up preexisting islands.
In the area around Nishinoshima, which was previously an isolated island far off in the sea, seabirds and fish have settled down and created a new ecosystem.
Please enjoy this amazing footage of the new, growing Japanese island.
How Big Is Nishinoshima?
Nishinoshima is a desert island located in the Ogasawara Islands (小笠原諸島, Ogasawarashoto),and is located about 1000 kilometers from Tokyo and about 130 kilometers from Chichijima Island (父島, Chichijima).
Currently, as you can see in the video from 2:08, its land mass is about 2.9 square kilometers (1.1 sq. mi.), 1000 times the size of the original island.
Nishinoshima, created by a volcano in Japan, is expanding little by little due to cinder from the mouth of the volcano building up and then hardening due to the flow of magma.
Nishinoshima's New Ecosystem
Nishinoshima, the newly formed island in Japan, is made of black rough walls of cooled, hardened lava.
The ground surface is covered with andesitic lava flow, creating the landscape of a precipitous cliff.
The Geographical Survey Institute (国土地理院, Kokudochiriin) has been visiting the island to research its mantle and magma composition.
According to this research, the island has expanded since it was born in 2013, and its ecosystem is changing as well.
The masked booby (アオツラカツオドリ, Aotsurakatsuodori), shown from 0:23 in the video, is thought to have inhabited Nishinoshima very recently.
As you can see from 1:38, the boobies have been spotted laying eggs inside of the island.
A new life, that of a baby bird, is being born on this island.
Summary of Nishinoshima, Japan's Newest Island
On Japan’s seafloor, active volcanic activity still continues and the continent is set to slowly grow bigger.
When you see new islands appear and change the size of the continents, it reminds you that the shape of the continents shifts each and every year.
Many experts are continuing research in Nishinoshima, so keep an eye out for any new information!
Please enjoy this amazing footage of Nishinoshima, an island where very few have set foot.
【Official Website】Nishinoshima|Marine Volcano Database|Japan Coast Guard Marine Information Department
https://www1.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/GIJUTSUKOKUSAI/kaiikiDB/kaiyo18-e1.htm
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