(ORDO NEWS) — In one of the overseas regions of France in the Indian Ocean, a new volcano has grown. Phys.org writes about it.
One of the five French overseas departments, Mayotte is located in the Comoros archipelago between Madagascar and the African mainland.
The island is the centerpiece of a coral reef that has been formed over hundreds of thousands of years by volcanic activity and tectonic shifts.
In 2018, an underwater volcano rapidly formed 50 kilometers off the east coast of Mayotte. This process was accompanied by 800 small earthquakes, which occurred several times a day for three weeks.
From May 2018 to June 2019, a series of 32 earthquakes measuring five or more on the Richter scale was recorded on the island.
During the existence of the volcano, more than five square kilometers of lava were ejected, which significantly changed the underwater landscape.
Scientists predict further growth of the volcano for several more millennia.
However, the territory of Mayotte is decreasing. In four years, the French region has shifted 20 centimeters to the east and sank 15 centimeters underwater.
In addition, geological processes cause natural disasters on the island and also stimulate climate change.
Now the control of the ecological situation in Mayotte has become a top priority in order to preserve the usual way of life.
This phenomenon has attracted the special interest of specialists from all over the world, since this is a rare situation when it is possible to study the birth of a new volcano.
In the near future, many research missions are planned to be launched in this area.
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