Metis Shoal

File:Metis Shoal.jpg

Metis Shoal, also known as Lateiki Island, is a volcanic island at the top of a submarine volcano in Tonga, located between the islands of Kao and Late. The current island formed in October 2019, when a smaller island disappeared after 24 years.

History

The shoal was named by the captain of HMS Metis in 1875, who found a small volcanic island protruding from the ocean. The island was reported as being 200m long and 37m high by HMS Sappho in 1878, and as 480m high in 1890, but had eroded away completely by 1898, leaving a shoal covered by 4m of water. Eruptions and short-lived islands have been reported as far back as 1781, according to the Global Volcanism Program.{{cite web |url=https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=243070 |title=Lateiki: General information |publisher=Global volcanism program |access-date=26 December 2021}} In December 1967 an eruption produced another short-lived island,{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-341925396/view?sectionId=nla.obj-345556422 |title=A NEW SOUTH SEAS ISLAND IS BORN... |work=Pacific Islands Monthly |volume=39 |issue=1 |page=26-27 |date=1 January 1968 |access-date=26 December 2021 |via=National Library of Australia}} which disappeared by the end of 1968. An eruption in 1979 discharged large amounts of pumice, and formed an island 16km in diameter.{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/250621005 |title=Volcano Island |work= Papua New Guinea Post-Courier |page=8 |date=29 June 1979 |access-date=26 December 2021 |via=National Library of Australia}} The new island was named "Lateiki" ("lies besides Late"){{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-337845816/view?sectionId=nla.obj-341522151 |title=Lateiki: Tonga's new jack-in-the-box island |work=Pacific Islands Monthly |volume=50 |issue=11 |page=30-33 |date=1 November 1979 |access-date=24 December 2021 |via=National Library of Australia}} and claimed by Tonga in a flag-raising ceremony,{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/250419917 |title=Island claimed for Tonga |work= Papua New Guinea Post-Courier |page=6 |date=3 August 1979 |access-date=26 December 2021 |via=National Library of Australia}} but soon eroded beneath the sea surface.

1995–2019 island

File:Metis Shoal Volcano eruption, Tonga, with added IR overlay - October 20th, 2019 (48936604791).jpg

During an eruption in 1995, a new island (latitude: 19.18°S, longitude: 174.8°W) appeared which had a diameter of 280 metre and a height of 43 metre following the growth of a lava dome above the surface. On 7 December 2006 the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) flew over Metis Shoal and Home Reef at the request of volcanologists from the Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences (IGNS) to take photos of Metis Shoal.

Another eruption commenced in October 2019.{{cite journal |last1=Yeo |first1=I. A. |last2=McIntosh |first2=I. M. |last3=Bryan |first3=S. E. |last4=Tani |first4=K. |last5=Dunbabin |first5=M. |last6=Metz |first6=D. |last7=Collins |first7=P. C. |last8=Stone |first8=K. |last9=Manu |first9=M. S. |date=6 May 2022 |title=The 2019–2020 volcanic eruption of Late'iki (Metis Shoal), Tonga |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=7468 |doi=10.1038/s41598-022-11133-8 |pmid=35523824 |pmc=9076857 |bibcode=2022NatSR..12.7468Y }} This eruption was first reported by Tongan vessel MV Ngutulei on the morning of 14 October 2019 and continued for more than two weeks. Photos were later taken by aircraft from Real Tonga and Air New Zealand, which showed that Metis Shoal had completely sunk.

New island

The Tonga Geological Service announced on 6 November 2019 that the eruption in October produced a new and bigger island, about 120 metres west of the island which disappeared. The new island was estimated to be 100 metres wide and 400 metres long, which is three times bigger than the previous one.{{Cite web|url=https://matangitonga.to/2019/11/06/eruption-lateiki|title=Eruption creates new bigger Lateiki Island|date=November 6, 2019|website=Matangi Tonga}}{{cite web |title=Volcanic eruption creates new island in Tongan archipelago |date=2019-11-07 |website=The Guardian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220918195146/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/07/volanic-eruption-creates-new-island-in-tongan-archipelago |archive-date=2022-09-18 |url-status=live |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/07/volanic-eruption-creates-new-island-in-tongan-archipelago}}{{cite web |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/science/117255992/wait-to-see-whether-tongan-island-created-by-undersea-eruption-will-last-long |title=Wait to see whether Tongan island created by undersea eruption will last long |author=Michael Daly |publisher=Stuff |date=7 November 2019 |access-date=25 December 2021}}