Type
ArticleKAUST Department
Crustal Deformation and InSAR GroupEarth Science and Engineering Program
Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division
Date
2015-05-26Online Publication Date
2015-05-26Print Publication Date
2015-12Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/556077
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Submarine eruptions that lead to the formation of new volcanic islands are rare and far from being fully understood; only a few such eruptions have been witnessed since Surtsey Island emerged to the south of Iceland in the 1960s. Here we report on two new volcanic islands that were formed in the Zubair archipelago of the southern Red Sea in 2011–2013. Using high-resolution optical satellite images, we find that the new islands grew rapidly during their initial eruptive phases and that coastal erosion significantly modified their shapes within months. Satellite radar data indicate that two north–south-oriented dykes, much longer than the small islands might suggest, fed the eruptions. These events occurred contemporaneously with several local earthquake swarms of the type that typically accompany magma intrusions. Earthquake activity has been affecting the southern Red Sea for decades, suggesting the presence of a magmatically active zone that has previously escaped notice.Citation
Birth of two volcanic islands in the southern Red Sea 2015, 6:7104 Nature CommunicationsPublisher
Springer NatureJournal
Nature CommunicationsPubMed ID
26010945PubMed Central ID
PMC4455101Additional Links
http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/ncomms8104ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1038/ncomms8104
Scopus Count
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