Ghost island in Caspian sea appears for over 150 years: What is known about it
This island has been hiding from scientists for over 150 years (photo: bluemarble.nasa.gov)
A ghost island that suddenly appears and disappears in the Caspian Sea has been playing hide-and-seek with scientists for over 150 years. Scientists have many images of this island, but they still cannot solve the mystery of its appearance, reports Science alert.
The island is located on top of the Kumani-Bank mud volcano, which is underwater off the coast of Azerbaijan. When the volcano erupts, the mud island breaks through the waves and forms land about 20 kilometers from the mainland.
The island was first documented in May 1861. But a year later it disappeared. According to available records, this island appeared and disappeared at least 6 times in the 20th century. And a spot of land rarely stays for more than two years - after about a year, it disappears underwater again.
Scientists were sure that the appearance of this island was exclusively due to the volcano and its eruption. The huge rocket jets of fire and mud were so strong that they could be mistaken for oil platform explosions from afar.
But in 2023, this drive island stumped scientists. Because it appeared above the waves without a volcanic eruption or any noise.
"Last year, a new island suddenly appeared, and it's impressive. But what's more surprising is that no one noticed," wrote geophysicist and mud volcano enthusiast Mark Tingey.
Satellite image of Kumani Island, which appears and slowly disappears between 2022 and 2024 (Photo: NASA Earth Observatory)
He was sure that there were no official records of the island, only satellite images. Tingey searched for references to the island or its name in different languages. But later, NASA chose the photo of the ghost island as their image of the day - it happened on January 10, 2025.
The case of the island's sudden appearance is not unique. This is not the first time that Kumani Island has taken scientists by surprise. A similar thing happened in 1993 when the island was simply seen on satellite images, but there had been no volcanic eruption before.
Kumani in the Caspian Sea off the coast of Azerbaijan (Image by NASA Earth Observatory)
Earlier, we wrote about which 5 volcanoes in Europe are considered the highest.
We also talked about the most amazing islands in the world.
