Satellite data showed an area of yellowish-green discolored water that was about 5 km long in the N-S direction and about 3 km in the E-W direction, in the vicinity of the submarine Lateiki volcano on 21 April. A more diffuse plume of discolored water extended another ~12 km WNW before dissipating.

Geological Summary. Lateiki, previously known as Metis Shoal, is a submarine volcano midway between the islands of Kao and Late that has produced a series of ephemeral islands since the first confirmed activity in the mid-19th century. An island, perhaps not in eruption, was reported in 1781 and subsequently eroded away. During periods of inactivity following 20th-century eruptions, waves have been observed to break on rocky reefs or sandy banks with depths of 10 m or less. Dacitic tuff cones formed during the eruptions in 1967 and 1979 were soon eroded beneath the ocean surface. An eruption in 1995 produced an island with a diameter of 280 m and a height of 43 m following growth of a lava dome above the surface.

Source: Copernicus