In 1984, Tonga's Home Reef shot a 12km-high plume into the sky and built an island. 42 years later, the growing volcanic island has gained nearly 20 acres of land

In 1984, Tonga's Home Reef shot a 12km-high plume into the sky and built an island. 42 years later, the growing volcanic island has gained nearly 20 acres of land. The underwater volcano has been changing the shape of the seafloor and the surface of the South Pacific through repeated eruptions. Home Reef is a submarine volcano located on the Tonga Volcanic Arc, west of the Tonga Trench in the South Pacific. The area is part of one of the most active volcanic arcs on Earth. Eruptions at Home Reef can push volcanic material above the ocean and create islands. These islands can later be reduced or removed by erosion.

Home Reef has created and lost islands for more than a century