Can an Island Disappear?

Sometimes an island appears out of nowhere, when a volcano under the ocean erupts or when the ocean bed buckles and pushes land to the surface of the water. But islands can disappear too, when the ocean bed buckles and pulls land under the water.

Falcon Island, which is really the peak of a volcano, is about 2,000 miles east of Australia, in the Pacific Ocean. Or perhaps we should say it was in the Pacific. In 1913, Falcon Island disappeared completely. But in 1926, the volcano erupted again, and Falcon Island reappeared.

And then 23 years later, the island disappeared again!