From RTE website
A remote island off the coast of Japan is bucking the trend of coastal erosion by gradually expanding due to lava which continues to flow from an active volcano.
The first eruption on the island of Nishinoshima in fourty years began in the seabed to the southeast of the island on 20 November 2013, and shortly afterwards a new land mass created by solidified lava merged with the island.
The island is now almost five times larger than it was before the eruption began.
Professor Kenji Nogami from Tokyo Institute of Technology says lava is continuing to flow from several locations on the newly expanded island.
Steam can be seen rising on the shore where lava comes into contact with seawater there.
Mr Nogami said it is unusual for a Japanese volcano to keep releasing lava for six months, and he is very surprised.
Mr Nogami added that the lava will continue flowing for a while and that the island is likely to keep expanding.
He said the continuous lava flow is a mystery and researchers will need to monitor the island and take rock and gas samples to learn more about the volcanic activity.
Watch a report on the ever-expanding island of Nishinoshima here.
http://www.rte.ie/news/player/2014/0519/20581290-active-volcano-is-increasing-the-land-mass-of-nishinoshima/