Earth is home to about 1,500 active or potentially active volcanoes, and each day around 20 of these often-steaming vents erupt in a variety of ways.
Some ooze lava. Some explode violently.
SEE ALSO: Why Guatemala’s volcano erupted in deadly av…
Category: Volcanic Eruption
NASA finds Fuego’s volcanic avalanches are still warm, weeks after violent eruption
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A NASA satellite passed over Guatemala’s Volcán de Fuego on June 24, and it found something intriguing.
According to data collected by the satellite — named Landsat 8 — temperatures in the chaotic avalanches the volcano blasted down its flanks three weeks earlier are still relatively high.
Landsat 8 takes around 400 detailed images each day, and can also measure thermal conditions on the ground, leading to this finding at Fuego.
In Landsat’s recent thermal imaging, it picked up temperatures some 4 to 6 degrees Celsius (7 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the surrounding tropical land over long portions of this still-cooling volcanic debris. The debris was left by scorching avalanches of newly-formed rock and gas — known as pyroclastic flows — which, when erupted, measured some 1,800-degrees Fahrenheit, according to NASA. Read more…
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Extreme volcanic eruptions could explain mysterious rock formation on Mars
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Could a volcanic eruption be the key to unlocking the mysterious geological history of Mars?
Back in the 1960s, NASA’s Mariner spacecraft discovered an extremely large and unusually soft rock formation. The makeup of the mass, now known as the Medusa Fossae formation, stumped researchers for decades because they were never able to determine how it got there.
But now, new research seems to answer that question — and maybe many others.
More than 3 billion years ago, extreme volcanic eruptions on Mars dropped the huge deposit near the Martian equator, according to the new study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. Read more…
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View More Extreme volcanic eruptions could explain mysterious rock formation on MarsA drone flew over the Fuego volcano’s hellish aftermath in Guatemala. Here’s what it saw.
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There’s no question that Guatemala’s Volcán de Fuego is a deadly mountain. Beginning June 3, the volcano sent chaotic avalanches of rock and gas down its sides, and as of June 13 the eruptions had taken 110 lives, with some 200 people still missing.
Since those initial scorching avalanches — known as pyroclastic flows — local resident Jozef Stano used a drone, which can be operated from more than 4 miles away, to circle the still ominously steaming volcano.
The footage is from June 10, a day that provided Stano a good opportunity to view the eruption’s aftermath. Read more…
More about Science, Volcano, Volcanic Eruption, Drone Footage, and Guatemala
Is Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano shooting green gems into the air?
Embedded in the lava still spewing some 130 feet into the air from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano are green crystals.
Called olivine, these minerals can turn Hawaiian beaches green, and it appears some of the green gems are raining down upon homes ne…
Satellite photos reveal the devastation of Guatemala’s Fuego volcano
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Hotel La Reunión Golf Resort and Residences sits in the shadow of Guatemala’s Volcán de Fuego, at about five miles away. Prior to the June 3 eruption, it was a verdant land, with well-manicured lawns.
Two days later, harrowing avalanches of scorching volcanic ash, rocky debris, and gas — called pyroclastic flows — smothered La Reunión and the surrounding land. Satellite images taken before and after the eruption reveal the devastation, which was not caused by lava flows, but by these speeding chaotic avalanches.
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View More Satellite photos reveal the devastation of Guatemala’s Fuego volcanoWhy Guatemala’s volcano erupted in deadly avalanches, but Hawaii’s hasn’t
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Guatemala’s Volcán de Fuego — literally translated to the Volcano of Fire — can be a terrifying mountain.
On June 3, the volcano sent scorching avalanches of swiftly flowing volcanic debris, known as pyroclastic flows, down its flanks, which the Guatemalan government said has so far killed 25 people.
But this is nothing new for Volcán de Fuego.
In recorded history alone, the volcano has erupted more than 60 times, and when it does, it often produces these hot avalanches which — when large enough — can completely bury people and homes. Read more…
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Hawaii hits one month of vigorous lava flows — and shows no signs of relenting
Precisely one month ago, a 500-foot long crack in the ground opened up in Hawaii’s Leilani Estates neighborhood, spewing lava into the air. At the time, volcanologists weren’t sure what might happen next, and whether lava flows would continue through…
View More Hawaii hits one month of vigorous lava flows — and shows no signs of relentingDon’t let lava stop you from visiting Hawaii
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The images are downright apocalyptic. With plumes of ash and glowing lava, the area around Mount Kilauea looks more like Mordor than a tropical paradise.
That hasn’t been great for tourism. National Park System economist Lynne Koontz told the New York Times the local economy is losing $455,000 per day.
SEE ALSO: Can I roast a marshmallow over lava?
Still, if you’ve got a plane ticket to Hawaii, there’s no need to cancel your trip — you’ll be fine.
First of all, the Big Island of Hawaii is, well, big. The volcano is erupting on a tiny corner of an island that measures more than 4,000 square miles, which is more than double the area of the entire state of Delaware. Most of the big resorts are in Kona, on the island’s west side. That’s about 100 miles from the volcano. Read more…
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View More Don’t let lava stop you from visiting HawaiiThe future of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano is written in the Big Island’s past
Looming above Kilauea’s glowing lava rivers and explosions of ash, is the most massive mountain on Earth. Measured from its deep ocean base, the Mauna Loa volcano is taller than Mount Everest. It takes up over half of the Big Island.
And it’s a…
Hawaii’s destructive lava flows hit the ocean, making the Big Island bigger
The history of Hawaii is a tale of lava flowing into the sea.
Bounties of fresh lava poured out of the Kilauea volcano’s recently opened fissures this weekend, producing orange molten rivers that flowed downslope to the Pacific Ocean. When they…
Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano just exploded
Hawaii’s volcanologists got it right.
Although Hawaii’s volcanoes rarely erupt explosively, a perfect stage had been set for such an eruption to occur this week, and it did. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano eru…