ikenbot:

Elements

“Starting at Kalapana, Hawaii I walked for two hours right to the place on the coast where active lava flows were touching the ocean.

I was overwhelmed about the scene: Hot air touched my face as I stood at the edge of the cliff, steam drifted away by the strong wind, thunders in my ears as the waves crushed on the melted stones and water fought with fire.

I stood and watched the lava flows started to glow as it became darker. I wanted to express what happened there. All four elements – water, fire, air and earth came together at that point to show how they’re playing the game. — Jennifer Vahlbruch

(via kenobi-wan-obi)

mothernaturenetwork:

Satellites could help predict volcano eruptions
New research shows volcanoes “inflating” prior to erupting, a change that could be detected from space.

frontal-cortex:

SEM image provided by A.M. Sarna-Wojcicki. Close view of a single ash particle from the eruption of Mount St. Helens; image is from a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The tiny voids or “holes” are called vesicles and were created by expanding gas bubbles during the eruption of magma.

(via kenobi-wan-obi)

ikenbot:

Volcano Road to The Milky Way

The Milky Way seen from the volcano road in Reunion Island.

fuckyeahfluiddynamics:

The volcanoes of the South Sandwich Islands, located in the South Atlantic, have a notable effect on cloud formation in this satellite photo. Visokoi Island, on the right, sheds a wake of large vortices that distort the cloud layer above it.  On the left, Zavodovski Island’s volcano does the same, with the added effect of low-level volcanic emissions, which include aerosols. These tiny particles provide a nucleus around which water droplets form, causing an marked increase in cloud formation visible in the bright tail streaming off the island. (Photo credit: NASA, via Earth Observatory)

ikenbot:

Hallasan Startrails

In a moonlit winter night of Jeju Island of South Korea, stars trail over Mount Halla (or Hallasan), a shield volcano which is the highest mountain of the country reaching about 2000 meters high.

mothernaturenetwork:

How volcanic eruptions could damage the ozone layer
Volcanoes release bromine and chlorine when they erupt, and those chemicals can have a disastrous effect on the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere.

mothernaturenetwork:

Underwater volcano offered warnings ahead of eruption
Using robot submarines and underwater microphones, researchers can monitor sound waves and hydrothermal vents for volcanic activity.

sciencephotolibrary:

Volcanic ash plume at Mount St. Helens. View of the giant ash cloud formed by the eruption of Mount St. Helens on 22 July 1980. This explosive event threw ash up to an altitude of 18km in the space of eight minutes. Spectacular though this was, it was a pale reflection of the major eruption of 18 May 1980 when about 3 cubic kilometres of the volcano were blown away. A lateral blast of dense, debris-filled steam clouds burst away from the volcano at speeds of up to 400 km/h, devastating more than 500 square kilometres of land. 57 people died in the first eruption, and over $1 billion of damage was done, mainly to the local lumber industry.

Credit: DAVID WEINTRAUB/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

discoverynews:

Ready to Blow? Mexico Volcano Rumbles

Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano has rumbled continuously and spewed gases and glowing rocks to almost one mile (one kilometer) beyond its crater, authorities said Friday.

Popocatepetl is located about 34 miles (55 kilometers) east of the capital, Mexico City. More than 30 million people live within sight of the volcano.

In an increase of activity the volcano registered “62 expulsions of medium intensity, with the emission of water vapor, gas, ashes and glowing rocks,” between Thursday night and Friday, said a statement from the National Center of Disaster Prevention.

keep reading

Folding Lava
By Justin Reznick

(via crownedrose)

geologise:

(by Marmontel)

The Ijen volcano complex is a group of stratovolcanoes, in East Java, Indonesia. It is inside a larger caldera Ijen, which is about 20 kilometers wide. The Gunung Merapi stratovolcano is the highest point of that complex. The name of this volcano resembles that of a different volcano, Mount Merapi in central Java, also known as Gunung Merapi. The name “Merapi” means “fire” in the Indonesian language.

West of Gunung Merapi is the Ijen volcano, which has a one-kilometer-wide turquoise-colored acid crater lake. The lake is the site of a labor-intensive sulfur mining operation, in which sulfur-laden baskets are carried by hand from the crater floor. Many other post-caldera cones and craters are located within the caldera or along its rim. The largest concentration of post-caldera cones forms an east/west-trending zone across the southern side of the caldera. The active crater at Kawah Ijen has an equivalent radius of 361 metres (1,184 ft), a surface of 0.41 square kilometres (0.16 sq mi). It is 200 metres (660 ft) deep and has a volume of 36 cubic hectometres (29,000 acre·ft).