Ghost Island Appears and Disappears Quickly in the Caspian Sea

Satellite images show the temporary island formed after the eruption of the Kumani Bank mud volcano, but then quickly disappeared within just under two years.

A “ghost island” that appears and disappears rapidly in the Caspian Sea has been captured on satellite imagery. The “island” appeared after an underwater mud volcano erupted. Photo: NASA/USGS/Landsat/Wanmei Liang.

This fleeting land mass appeared in late January 2023 above Kumani Bank, an underwater volcano about 15 miles off the east coast of Azerbaijan. When it fully formed on February 4, 2023, the island was about 1,300 feet in diameter, according to NASA's Earth Observatory. Photo: NASA/USGS/Landsat/Wanmei Liang.

However, the island was unstable and by the time the last photo was taken in December 2024, it had “almost completely eroded away, disappearing from view like a ghost.” By now, the island may have disappeared. Photo: NASA Earth Observatory images by Wanmei Liang, using Landsat data from the US Geological Survey.

Kumani Bank has erupted eight times since it was first discovered in 1861. Each eruption lasted only a few days, but each event resulted in at least some form of temporary island. The most powerful eruption on record occurred in 1950, creating a mass of land 700m wide and 6m high above sea level. Photo: NASA Earth Observatory images by Wanmei Liang, using Landsat data from the US Geological Survey.

Kumani Bank is a mud volcano, meaning it spews out superheated mud and water instead of lava and ash. Image: Landsat/NASA EO/SWNS.

Azerbaijan has one of the highest concentrations of mud volcanoes on Earth, with more than 300 onshore or offshore. This is due to Azerbaijan's location on the "convergence zone" where the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide, leading to increased geothermal activity. Photo: NASA.

Mud volcanoes are not as violent or destructive as other types of volcanoes. However, they contain high levels of compressed natural gas. This gas can be ignited by sparks from colliding rocks, leading to occasional violent eruptions. Photo: NASA.

It is believed that an underwater mud volcano near Kumani Bank caused a giant, hundreds of meters high eruption in the Caspian Sea in 2021. Photo: NASA.

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