article_snippet.sent: Geologists believe the emergence is a result of a landslide nearby, when melting ice and snow caused a section of land to drop, pivoting the underwater area into the air.
article_snippet.sent: Scroll down for video .
article_snippet.sent: An aerial survey indicates that the land swell happened as a result of a landslide', local researcher Yoshinori Yajima told the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper after A man flew over the underwater area Monday.
article_snippet.sent: Authorities have not been able to determine exactly when the landslide hit the snow-covered coastline, but Authorities do not expect the landslide to expand further, said an official at the central government's Hokkaido Regional Development Bureau. '
highlights_snippet.sent: It is believed to have been forced to the surface by a landslide nearby .