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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists at NASA, the US space agency, have discovered the fate of a mysterious island that suddenly appeared in the South Pacific four years ago, after news has confirmed his disappearance.
NASA scientists are referring to the mysterious island, formed between December 2014 and January 2015 by a volcanic eruption between the two largest islands of Tonga, reported Fox News.
A volcano erupted between Honga Tonga and Honga Hibai Islands, forming the third volcanic island to appear 150 years ago and is not expected to disappear due to the waters of the Pacific Ocean, scientists said.
Many islands are formed by marine volcanoes, but they disappear because of water, erosion or the collapse of the oceans.
Last October, a team of NASA scientists visited the island to determine whether it would remain permanently or not, record its observations and sample them.
Among the observations recorded by scientists, we find the presence of mud loam, which allows the growth of plants, they think come from the waves on the island, and whose source is the crater.
They also noticed a slight vegetation cover, birds such as the white owl and a type of gull.
NASA scientist Dan Slipak thinks that the island will remain and will not go away as easily as in some previously observed cases.
The island is of particular importance to NASA, as it may be reminiscent of ancient Mars and gives the space agency ideas on how volcanic landscapes interact with the waters of the ancient Red Planet.
In 2017, NASA said it expects the island to remain between 6 and 30 years before disappearing again.
(Sky News)
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