Ghost island emerges and vanishes in the Caspian Sea
Scientists from NASA observed a mysterious island in the Caspian Sea following the eruption of the Kumani Bank mud volcano off the coast of Azerbaijan. The "ghost island" appeared and disappeared just as quickly, reports the "New York Post."
NASA satellites captured the "ghost island," which emerged after the eruption of the Kumani Bank mud volcano in 2023. It is located approximately 24 kilometres east of the coast of Azerbaijan.
Mud volcanoes form when underground pressure pushes a mixture of fluids, gases, and sediments to the surface, the New York Post explains. The emergence and disappearance of the mysterious island were documented by remote sensing instruments aboard the Landsat 8 and 9 satellites.
The portal adds that the island remained underwater in early November 2022 and surfaced in February 2023. NASA images indicate the island could have been about 400 metres in diameter. It emerged at the end of January 2023 and disappeared completely by the end of 2024. Scientists are quoted by the New York Post as saying it vanished from sight like a spectre.
The Kumani Bank volcano has been forming similar temporary islands since its first recorded eruption in 1861. This eruption created land with a diameter of 90 metres and a height of 3 metres above the water. The island existed for a year.
Up to 300 mud volcanoes have been counted in Azerbaijan itself, on land and in the Caspian Sea. They are connected to an extensive hydrocarbon system in the South Caspian Basin, which releases flammable gases such as methane and characteristic muddy sediment.
Mud vulcanoes are "weird and wonderful features that remain largely understudied and little understood," said geologist Mark Tingay at a seminar for the Geological Society of Australia, quoted by "NY Post."
