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Volcanoes in Eruption - Set 1 |
| The word "volcano" is used to refer to the opening from which molten rock and gas issue from Earth's interior onto the surface, and also to the cone, hill, or mountain built up around the opening by the eruptive products. This slide set depicts explosive eruptions, lava fountains and flows, stream eruptions, and fissure eruptions from 19 volcanoes in 13 countries. volcano types represented in this set include strato, cinder cone, complex, fissure vent, lava dome, shield, and island-forming. |
Barcena, Mexico | |
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Barcena, Mexico;19.27 N 110.80 W;375 m elevation Barcena is on San Benedicto Island, which lies off the coast of Mexico, south of Baja California and west of Mexico City. This photo (taken in 1952) shows Barcena in eruption. This is the only eruption in recent times. It produced a glowing avalanche and a lava flow. Photo credit: Howell Williams |
Cerro Negro, Nicaragua | |
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Cerro Negro, Nicaragua;12.50 N 86.70 W;675 m elevation This cinder cone in western Nicaragua has a name that means "black hill." It has erupted more than 20 times since its birth in 1850. Explosive eruptions from the central crater are often accompanied by lava flows from the base of the cone. It is the youngest of four cinder cones scattered along a 20 km line east-southeast of Telica. This view was taken on February 10, 1971, on the eighth day of an eleven-day eruption cycle. The eruption has produced an enlargement of the summit crater and a broadening of the cone due to ashfalls. Photo credit: R.E. Wilcox, U.S. Geological Survey |
Etna, Sicily | |
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Etna, Sicily;37.73 N 15.00 E;3,290 m elevation This transitional shield-to-stratovolcano in northeastern Sicily has released lava flows more than 150 times since activity was first recorded in 1500 B.C. Small-to-moderate explosive eruptions commonly occur at the summit. One in 1979 took nine lives. Etna has the longest documented record of volcanism in the world. Photo credit: University of Colorado |
Irazu, Costa Rica | |
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Irazu, Costa Rica;9.98 N 83.85 W;3,432 m elevation Located 25 km from San Jose, Irazu is the highest volcano in Costa Rica and also has the country's earliest historic eruption (1772). During the lengthy eruption of 1963 to 1965, ash falls were common over San Jose. Coffee plantations in the area were damaged. This view, taken in early 1964, shows a dense cloud erupting from the crater. Photo credit: Howell Williams |
Izalco, El Salvador | |
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Izalco, El Salvador;13.82 N 89.63 W:1,965 m elevation This slide, taken in December 1949, shows a small steam eruption and a view of the older lava flow on the side of the cone in the foreground. Izalco is a young stratovolcano on the south flank of Santa Ana Volcano in western El Salvador. Its continuous small explosive eruptions (beginning in 1770) caused it to be known as the "Lighthouse of the Pacific." The activity consisted of ejection of cinder showers and bombs with occasional lava flows from the lateral vents. The activity stopped shortly after a hotel was built nearby to accommodate tourists. Photo credit: Howell Williams |
Kilauea, HI | |
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Kilauea, Hawaii, U.S.;19.42 N 155.29
W;1,222 m elevation This is a lava fountain from the 1959 eruption of Kilauea Iki. Such lava fountains completely blocked several of the roads in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The basaltic shield volcano on the Island of Hawaii is among the most extensively studied volcanoes in the world. The volcano, with its summit caldera, is located on the east flank of giant Mauna Loa. Activity began with a violent explosive eruption in 1790. In the 19th and early 20th Centuries its lava lake eruptions attracted widespread attention. Nearly half of the world's known lava lake eruptions occur here. The summit and rift zones have produced extensive lava flows. Photo credit: University of Colorado |
Kilauea, Hawaii Rift Eruption | |
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Kilauea, Hawaii, U.S The east rift area has been one of the most active areas on Kilauea. Shown here are fire fountains in a night view of the east rift area (in January 1983). Forty-eight eruptive episodes occurred in this area in 1983, and have continued to the present (1997). This eruption is the largest of Kilauea's historic rift eruptions. A number of prehistoric eruptions are indicated as well, by tephra chronology and carbon-14 dating methods. Photo credit: University of Colorado |
Krishima, Japan | |
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Kirishima, Japan;31.93 N 130.87 E;1,700 m elevation The shield volcano consists of more than 20 eruptive centers over a 20 x 30 km area that also includes Japan's first national park. Sixty-nine eruptions have been documented since 742 A.D. Kirishima is one of Japan's 31 active volcanoes, and has erupted 19 times since 1700. The slide shows two ponds in the crater bottom and gas activity higher on the crater walls. Photo credit: University of Colorado |
Lamington, Papua New Guinea | |
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Lamington, Papua New Guinea;8.94 S 148.17 E;1,780 m elevation This dormant stratovolcano in Papua New Guinea suddenly exploded in 1951. Nuées ardentes (glowing avalanches) shot down the mountain at 100 km per hour, devastated over 200 km2, and killed about 3,000 people. Temperatures of the cloud were so high that the deposits were still hot two years later. Following the explosive eruption, a 500-meter-high lava dome grew in the explosion crater until 1956. This slide, taken in 1951, shows a nuee ardente. Photo credit: University of Colorado |
La Soufriere, Guadeloupe | |
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La Soufriere, Guadeloupe;16.05 N 61.67 W;1,467 m elevation La Soufriere is a stratovolcano with a summit dome, on the southern part of Guadeloupe Island. It has erupted explosively about ten times since 1400. An eruption in 1976 prompted the evacuation of 70,000 people for several months, but produced only minor explosions. This oblique aerial view, taken in August 1976, shows a plume of vapor and ash boiling from the summit. The villages and towns that can be seen in the background were totally evacuated during the crisis. Photo credit: F.C. Whitmore, U.S. Geological Survey |
Las Pilas, Nicaragua | |
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Las Pilas, Nicaragua;12.48 N 86.68 W;938 m elevation This volcano is located 5 km southeast of Cerro Negro. Its composite dome is larger than Cerro Negro, but the volcano's only known eruptions were in 1952 and 1954. This aerial view taken on October 23, 1952, shows steam escaping from the rift at Las Pilas during a fissure eruption. Photo credit: Howell Williams |
Lassen Peak, CA | |
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Lassen Peak, California;40.49 N 121.51 W;3,186 m elevation This view of Lassen Peak from Anderson, California (more than 33 km from the volcano) was taken on March 22, 1915. A series of explosive eruptions from 1914 through 1915 culminated in hot avalanches in May 1915. It is one of the largest lava domes on record and is nearly two km across at the base and 606 m high. The sides of the dome are mantled with crumble breccia (rock composed of large angular fragments) and tephra. A lava flow melted snow and ice and the resulting mudflow swept 50 km down the valleys of Hat and Lost Creeks. The volcano last erupted in 1921. Photo credit: R.I. Meyers |
Masaya, Nicaragua | |
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Masaya, Nicaragua;11.95 N 86.15 W;635 m elevation Masaya is a 6 x 11 km caldera containing several small central stratovolcanoes, 20 km southeast of Managua in southwestern Nicaragua. Unlike the stratovolcanoes that characterize subduction zones, Masaya has a shield-like morphology. It has erupted more than 20 times since the first documented eruption in 1524, with varied activity including explosions, lava flows, and lava lakes. Masaya exhibited an active lava lake from 1965 to 1979 and became Nicaragua's first national park in 1979. Its prehistoric record indicates explosive violence unusual in basaltic volcanoes. The eruption in 4550 B.C. was one of the largest on Earth in the last 10,000 years. Shown here is a view of the Santiago crater within Masaya (April 1951). Photo credit: R.E. Wilcox, U.S. Geological Survey |
Mayon, Luzon, Philippines | |
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Mayon, Luzon, Philippines;13.26 N 123.68 E;2,462 m elevation Mayon is a classic stratovolcano cone in the central Philippines. It has erupted explosively nearly 50 times since 1616, produced nuees ardentes from 18 eruptions, and numerous lava flows. The region is densely populated and at least twelve eruptions have resulted in deaths. Historically Mayon has been the most active volcano in the Philippines. The photo, taken May 2, 1968, shows vertical ejection of incandescent material to about 600 m above the vent. The falling material feeds nuees ardentes. An eruption in 1993 killed 68 people and prompted the evacuation of 60,000 others. Photo credit: J.G. Moore, U.S. Geological Survey |
Ngauruhoe, New Zealand | |
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Ngauruhoe, New Zealand;39.16 S 175.6 E;2,291 m elevation This strato volcano with a near perfect cone is located in central North Island on the southwest flank of the Tangariro massif. It has been New Zealand's most active volcano in historic times, with more than 60 eruptive episodes since its first recorded eruption in 1839. This photo shows the pyroclastic flow (nuee ardente) and eruption cloud during the January 1974 eruption. Another eruption occurred in 1977. Photo credit: University of Colorado |
Pacaya, Guatemala | |
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Pacaya, Guatemala;14.38 N 90.60 W;2552 m elevation Pacaya is a volcanic complex of two small stratovolcano cones and older lava domes in southern Guatemala, south-southwest of Guatemala City. It has erupted more than 23 times since its birth in 1565. Eruptions are generally characterized by explosions, but recent eruptions have also produced lava flows. This view shows an ash eruption shortly after the February 4, 1976, magnitude 7.5 earthquake. Since 1965, the volcano has been erupting almost continuously, with pauses of a few months between eruptions. Photo credit: U.S. Geological Survey |
Paricutin, Mexico | |
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Paricutin, Mexico;19.48 N 102.25 W;3,170 m elevation A cornfield in central Mexico was the birthplace of this cinder cone. During its brief nine-year lifespan (1943-1952), Paracutin developed a 410-meter-high cone with extensive lava fields around the base of the cone. Most of the 2 km2 of eruptive products (ash, cinders, lava) were produced in the first few years. Cinder cones such as this one are commonly sites of only one eruption. Each subsequent eruption in the same area forms its own cinder cone. This spectacular night view taken in 1944 shows lava bursting far above the crater rim and also visible on the flanks of the cone. Photo credit: R.E. Wilcox, U.S. Geological Survey |
St. Helens, WA | |
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St. Helens, Washington, U.S.;46.20 N 122.18 W;2,549 m elevation This stratovolcano is in southern Washington, 165 km south of Seattle and 80 km north-northeast of Portland, Oregon. Mid-19th Century eruptions had been documented, and volcanologists recognized the volcano's potential danger. However, the snow-covered mountain was primarily known for its quiet beauty. In early 1980 the volcano reawakened. In its gigantic explosive eruption on May 18, 1980, a directed blast leveled 400 km2 of forest, and formed a deep horseshoe crater facing north. A major debris flow filled a valley for 24 km. Sixty-two people were dead or missing. Total economic losses were estimated at $1.2 billion. This photo shows the May 18, 1980, eruption viewed from the east. The top 1,300 feet disappeared within minutes. Photo credit: Washington Department of Natural Resources |
Stromboli, Italy | |
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Stromboli, Italy;38.79 N 15.21 E;926 m elevation This stratovolcano island is located west of Italy. Its nearly continuous eruptions for over 2,000 years have given it the title, "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean." Ships passing by are guided by the small explosions of glowing lava hurled up from the crater every 15 to 30 minutes. The name strombolian has been applied to all such small explosions that hurl incandescent lava above the crater rim. Larger eruptions, some with lava flows, take place at intervals of several years. This spectacular view of a night eruption of Stromboli was taken in March 1951. Photo credit: Howell Williams |
Surtsey, Iceland | |
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Surtsey, Iceland;63.30 N 20.62 W;170 m elevation This photo, taken on November 30, 1963, shows the sixteen-day-old cone which became the Island of Surtsey, off the southern coast of Iceland. Born from the sea, it has provided scientists a laboratory to observe how plants and animals establish themselves in new territory. The eruption began 130 m below sea level, where it proceeded quietly until the height of the volcano approached the sea surface. Then the explosive activity could no longer be quenched by the sea. A black column of volcanic ash announced the island's birth on November 14, 1963. Jets of dense black ash shot skyward and the towering eruption cloud rose to a height of 9 km. By April of 1965, ash had blocked sea water from the crater area. Lava flows became prominent, forming a hard cap of solid rocks over the lower slopes of Surtsey. This prevented the waves from washing away the island. The three and one-half year eruption was over in June 1967. Photo credit: Howell Williams |