Home Reef volcano (Tonga Islands) - Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report for 8 November-14 November 2006 (New Activity / Unrest)

Pumice rafts originally reported to have been from Metis Shoal are now confirmed to have originated from an island-building eruption of the submarine Home Reef volcano. On 12 August, possibly four days after the beginning of the eruption, a sailor spotted the new island after encountering pumice rafts the previous day. The encounter was written in an on-line journal that described the island as four-peaked.
A central crater produced steam plumes and occasional bursts of tephra.

Data from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA's Aura satellite showed that sulfur dioxide emissions from the Home Reef area began on 8 August, peaked during 8-9 August, and ceased on 15 August. Based on ASTER satellite imagery from 4 October, the island was an estimated 1 km long with an area of 0.23 square km. The temperature of a small lake on the island was 64.7°C.
The island was 0.15 square km, based on ASTER imagery from 12 October.

Sources: Fredrik Fransson, Simon Carn, Alain Bernard
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From: Global Volcanism Program, 2006. Report on Home Reef. In: Mayberry, G (ed.), Weekly Volcanic Activity Report 8 November-14 November 2006. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.