World’s newest island appears after underwater volcanic eruption

The land mass is about 100 metres in diameter and 20 metres in height and was formed about a kilometre off the coast of the Japanese island of Iwo Jima.

Aerial footage shows a dark cloud of ash above the island, which has become the latest addition to the Ogasawara Island chain.

A volcanic eruption took place on October 30, with magma breaking through the Earth's crust and solidifying as it came into contact with the water.

Eventually the solidified magma rose above the water's surface.

The University of Tokyo's Earthquake Research Institute had been tracking the volcanic activity in the area since last year.

Setsuya Nakada, a professor of volcanology at the University told the The Japan Times: “In an earlier stage, a vertical jet of black colour, debris — which is a solidified magma — and water gushed upward.

“Since 3 November, the eruption started changing and the emission of volcanic ash continued explosively.”

However, as the volcanic activity subsided, the island has actually shrunk due to its "crumbly" surface being washed away by waves, according to Yuji Usui, an analyst in the Japan Meteorological Agency's volcanic division.

The land mass is still being monitored by experts, who think it could last if volcanic activity starts up again and the island starts to be made of lava.

But Usai admitted it "may not last very long."

Nakada said: “The areas that don't have lava could be scraped away. So if more and more lava comes out, and covers the area, I think that part will remain forever."