audio, stills, text and or video: Go to zReportage.com to see more - The Tongan archipelago's 177th island is so new, it doesn't have a name. At the end of 2014, undersea vents spewed ash and rocks 400m into the air, these settled to form the new island, between two other South Pacific islands, Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha'apai. It is 40 miles from the Tongan capital Nuku'alofa, and 2200 miles from Sydney. It's unlikely to feature in any tourist brochure but the world's newest island, which bubbled from the ocean off Tonga in 2014, is already attracting life. The baby island bubbled from the ocean becoming the worlds youngest land mass. The South Pacific island is basically made up of minuscule pieces of volcanic rock piled on top of each other. It hasn't been given a name for fear it will soon fall back into the sea. the unnamed island is about two kilometers long a kilometer wide, and sits within the so-called Pacific Rim of Fire, where the collision of continental plates causes request seismic and volcanic activity.
© Edwina Pickles/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
July 10, 2015 - Australia - Curious fishermen approach an unnamed land mass which is the newest island on Earth. The island emerged from the waters of the South Pacific in January 2015 when a volcano erupted on nearby Tonga, forcing pulverised magma into the air above the ocean. The magma gradually built up on the ocean floor, penetrating the surface of the water to form the island.
© Edwina Pickles/Fairfax Media/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
July 10, 2015 - Australia - This unnamed land mass is the newest island on Earth and is already home to a small number of plants and animals.
© Edwina Pickles/Fairfax Media/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
July 10, 2015 - Australia - This unnamed land mass is the newest island on Earth and is already home to a small number of plants and animals.
© Edwina Pickles/Fairfax Media/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
July 10, 2015 - Australia - This unnamed land mass is the newest island on Earth and is already home to a small number of plants and animals.
© Edwina Pickles/Fairfax Media/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
July 10, 2015 - Australia - A fisherman approaches an unnamed land mass which is the newest island on Earth.
© Edwina Pickles/Fairfax Media/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
July 10, 2015 - Australia - This unnamed land mass is the newest island on Earth and is already home to a small number of plants and animals.
© Edwina Pickles/Fairfax Media/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
July 10, 2015 - Australia - The location of the newest island on Earth is marked on a map between two other South Pacific islands, Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha'apai.
© Edwina Pickles/Fairfax Media/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
July 10, 2015 - Australia - The sun rises over the newest island.
© Edwina Pickles/Fairfax Media/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
July 10, 2015 - Australia - No more than ten people have explored the newest island on Earth.
© Edwina Pickles/Fairfax Media/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
July 10, 2015 - Australia - No more than ten people have explored the newest island on Earth.
© Edwina Pickles/Fairfax Media/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
July 10, 2015 - Australia - This unnamed land mass is the newest island on Earth and is already home to a small number of plants and animals.
© Edwina Pickles/Fairfax Media/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
July 10, 2015 - Australia - Journalist PETER MUNRO stands in a cave on the newest island on Earth.
© Edwina Pickles/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
July 10, 2015 - Australia - This unnamed land mass is the newest island on Earth and is already home to a small number of plants and animals.
© Edwina Pickles/Fairfax Media/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
July 10, 2015 - Australia - No more than ten people have explored the newest island.
© Edwina Pickles/Fairfax Media/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
July 10, 2015 - Australia - A coconut is washed up on the shore of the newest island on Earth.
© Edwina Pickles/Fairfax Media/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
July 10, 2015 - Australia - This unnamed land mass is the newest island on Earth and is already home to a small number of plants and animals.
© Edwina Pickles/Fairfax Media/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
July 10, 2015 - Australia - A bottle is washed up on the shore of the newest island on Earth.
© Edwina Pickles/Fairfax Media/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
July 10, 2015 - Australia - The national flag of Tonga flies over the newest island on Earth.
© Edwina Pickles/Fairfax Media/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
