Kunashir Island began to expand towards Japan

Over the past 50 years, the Russian island of Kunashir has increased towards Japanese Hokkaido by about 380 m due to the spreading of sand in the southern part. Andrey Panin, Doctor of Geographical Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and an employee of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Izvestia on October 12.

"The southeastern coast of Kunashir (the so-called Golovninsky cliff) is severely destroyed by storm waves, and the resulting sand is transported by the coastal current to the south and increases by 7-8 m per year the Veslovsky Peninsula, a sand spit extending from the southern edge of the island," Panin said.

The scientist noted that anyone can observe the geographical process using online maps of different years.

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On the same day, scientists said that in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the continent of Zealand is located with an area of about 4.9 million square kilometers, approximately 94% of which is under water. New Zealand and New Caledonia are the most notable areas of its land. In 2017, geologists presented a scientific justification for the continental status of this territory, and in 2023 they completed its survey geological mapping.