NASA satellites spot a Ghost Island in the Caspian Sea
The "Ghost Island" is located 25 kilometers off the eastern coast of Azerbaijan and is known as Chigil-Deniz, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports, citing NASA's Earth Observatory.
According to the observatory, its Landsat 8 and 9 satellites captured several images of the Caspian Sea coastline between November 2022 and December 2024. During this period, they accidentally discovered the island.
Satellite observations showed the island emerged from the Caspian Sea following the Kumani Bank mud volcano eruption in early 2023. By late 2024, only a much smaller portion of the island was still visible above water.
"At its largest, the island stretched up to 400 meters — slightly longer than four football fields," the observatory reported.
Scientists have recorded several powerful eruptions of the Kumani Bank mud volcano, which has formed similar 'ghost' islands since its first documented eruption over 150 years ago.
Eight prior eruptions of Kumani Bank were recorded, each occurring in waves and lasting less than two days. For example, in May 1861, an eruption created an island 87 meters wide and 3.5 meters above the water's surface. However, it eroded away by early 1862. The strongest eruption occurred in 1950, forming an island 700 meters wide and 6 meters high.
Azerbaijan’s territory is known for its high concentration of mud volcanoes. Geologists have identified over 300 mud volcanoes in eastern Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea shelf, with most located on land. This phenomenon is attributed to the region's location in a convergence zone where the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide.
Azerbaijan's mud volcanoes are linked to the extensive hydrocarbon system of the South Caspian Basin and are known to emit flammable gases, such as methane, along with their characteristic muddy slurries. While the observatory is uncertain whether the 2023 eruption of the Kumani Bank island involved fire, historical observations suggest that past eruptions of nearby mud volcanoes sent towering flames hundreds of meters into the air.
Earlier, Kazinform News Agency previously reported an earthquake recorded in the Caspian Sea.
