Zubair volcano (Jemen, Red Sea): New dramatic video shows volcanic eruption

A new dramatic video of the recent volcanic eruption in the Red Sea in the Zubayr group of islands west of Jemen has emerged on youtube. The video was taken from a military helicopter and shows the newly-born island in the highly explosive phase, when magma in contact with sea water lead to very strong steam and ash explosions (so-called surtseyan activity), producing huge ash and steam clouds. Unfortunately, the date of the video is not specified, but it is probably from around 22-23 December.

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• Video of the eruption (youtube)

New island born in the Red Sea at the Zubair archipelago (Jemen)

NASA satellite images show that the eruption in the Red Sea in the Zubair archipelago has produced a new island. The island is circular, about 500 m wide and located about 1 km north of Rugged Island. It consists of fresh probably basaltic lava flows and an active vent seems to be in its center.
A large steam plume, generated by evaporating sea water at the entry of lava flows into the sea is seen on the satellite image, drifting north.
The island has apparently passed through an explosive Surtseyan phase very quickly, probably because the erupting basalt lava was poor in gas and because the output rate was high, so that the vent could be sealed from water access in short time.

• Toutes les nouvelles pour: Jebel Zubair volcan
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• Volcanic Activity in the Red Sea (NASA Earth Observatory)

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