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Today's subject was inspired by Gunung Karangetang, one of the numerous Indonesian volcanoes that just happens to be percolating a bit right now. In the course of discovering a photostream on Flickr that has a lot of volcano pictures, I also discovered a volcano I never heard of (Mbwelesu on Vanuatu) which has (or had) an active lava lake. Because lava lakes are so rare, and because it's something that I tend to remember, I'm a little peevishly surprised that this one got by me until today. Mr. hshdude doesn't tell us much about himself, so thanks for the pics,...

Selected shots from recently acquired shots of Redoubt. Click for full-size. Image courtesy of Bretwood Higman. Image Creator: Sadler, Tricia Joy Redoubt eruption column, as seen on the way to Kenai from Nikiski. (Image shown full-size.) Picture Date: March 28, 2009 Image Creator: Hagstrom-Sanger, Leigh; Image Creator: Waythomas, Chris Backscattered electron image of amphibole grain in AT-1610 with a thick reaction rim surrounding it. Amphibole is a volcanic mineral that crystallizes in magma that contains some amount of water. As magma moves up toward the surface, it loses water and the amphibole reacts, forming a rim containing plagioclase, pyroxene, and...

Redoubt Volcano has been erupting all day. I am in south Anchorage where ash is falling. 1/8th inch in the last 20 minutes. visibility less than 500 feet. Heavy smell of sulfur in the air. Hunkering down!

In case you haven't heard, Mt. Redoubt in Alaska is in a state of imminent eruption (which means it could happen tomorrow or two months from now, or it might not erupt at all. Odds are it will, though.) So I thought I'd put up a picture from the last eruption, which produced some of the most impressive eruption cloud pictures I've ever seen. The linked page has some Quicktime videos of other eruptions; some of the pyroclastic flow videos are from Unzen and Montserrat.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Mount Redoubt continues to rumble and simmer, prompting geologists to say this Alaska volcano could erupt "within days." Scientists from the Alaska Volcano Observatory have been monitoring activity round-the-clock since the weekend. If Mount Redoubt does erupt, it would be the first time this occurred in nearly 20 years. And if won't likely be pretty. History shows that volcanoes in Alaska, including Redoubt, typically erupt explosively, shooting ash almost eight miles high.

Footprints in the ash By Sid PerkinsMay 29th, 2008Humans may have been walking around what is now central Mexico 40,000 years ago HUMAN PRINTSFootprints (one left) left in volcanic ash that fell in central Mexico’s Valsequillo Basin about 40,000 years could be evidence that humans have inhabited the Americas far longer than previously confirmed. Laser scans of the prints (right) confirm their human origins, the researchers report today at the American Geophysical Union meeting. Footprints left in volcanic ash that fell in central Mexico’s Valsequillo Basin about 40,000 years ago are evidence that humans have inhabited the Americas far longer...

Quarter-size; click for full size.

An "unknown" (meaning it hasn't erupted historically) Chilean volcano erupted starting on Friday. The ash clouds are some of the most impressive I've seen since Pinatubo, and have caused the usual problems in nearby areas. Below is a selection. (Because I'm borrowing mainly from news sources, some of these may not work or may cease working in the near future.)

Eruption May Have Been Bigger Larry O'Hanlon, Discovery News Dec. 21, 2006 — One of the largest volcanic eruptions on record just got bigger. The Taupo Volcanic Zone of New Zealand appears to have had twin eruptions only 20 miles apart within days of each other a quarter-million years ago. Each eruption belched out more than 25 cubic miles (100 cubic kilometers) of rock and volcanic ash. This is the first evidence of twin supervolcanic eruptions. "It's possible one of these triggered the other," said geologist Darren Gravley of the University of Auckland, New Zealand. But exactly how the...

Get ready for a ride through the darkest trilogy ever to drip slime on the shelves at your local video store! In "Evil Dead," what was on the necklace that Ash gave to his girlfriend? Cross Magnifying glass Skull Peace sign

Chile's Lascar Volcano is one of the highest altitude active volcanoes in the world, and might actually be the champion. Here's what it looked like in April 1993 from space (look for the ash cloud): That ash cloud is the remnant activity from a previous explosion that was fairly impressive from the ground a few kilometers away.

Evil Dead the Musical will come alive at New World Stages on Monday, October 2 for an unlimited Off-Broadway run. The official opening is set for Wednesday, November 1 at 7:00 PM. "A 'dis-arm-ingly' riotous musical comedy based on Sam Raimi's 80s cult-classic horror films, Evil Dead the Musical unearths the old familiar story: boy and friends take a weekend getaway at abandoned cabin, boy expects to get lucky, boy unleashes ancient evil spirit, friends turn into Candarian Demons, boy fights until dawn to survive. As musical mayhem descends upon this sleepover in the woods, "camp" takes on a whole...

I'm eagerly awaiting William Rivers Pitt's expose of Truthout, somewhat like the one he did on us that was entitled God Sees The Freepers I'm sure an honest, even-handed non-partisan guy like Pitt is OUTRAGED that the website Truthout would post such stuff about an innocent American citizen like Karl Rove...

Rove is free and the looney left is having a fit. William Rivers Pitt, Jason Leopold and Marc Ash from TruthOut.org have pushed the story, "Rove to be Indicted" , for many weeks, but their hopes have been dashed. Now, the faithful looney left is clammering at the TruthOut website demanding that the "sources" for this fiction be exposed. It has been reported that TruthOut/Jason Leopold had promised to reveal his sources if the story proved to be false......and the left is waiting for the sources. They are openly demanding the sources -- but TruthOut has yet to make a...

Two views from the Space Station of a short minor eruption from Cleveland Volcano: Smaller image below: click for the bigger one:

Because Mount Merapi in Indonesia is threatening to blow, and because "nuee ardentes" or pyroclastic flows are the major concern, I thought a few pictures of hot flaming clouds of gas would be appropriate. The first is from a previous eruption of Merapi: Source page: http://www.univ-orleans.fr/sciences/GEOLOGIE/res_ped/volcano/pelee2002/french/1902_nuees2/soufriere.htm The next is one coming down the side of Mount St. Helens in August 1980, three months after the big blast in May. Page source: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/Images/pyroclastic_flows.html And third, a nice shot of a flow and incandescent rockfall on Montserrat from Stromboli On-Line: Page source: http://www.swisseduc.ch/stromboli/perm/montserrat/flows-en.html

Ocean temperatures might have risen even higher during the last century if it weren't for volcanoes that spewed ashes and aerosols into the upper atmosphere, researchers have found. The eruptions also offset a large percentage of sea level rise caused by human activity. Using 12 new state-of-the-art climate models, the researchers found that ocean warming and sea level rise in the 20th century were substantially reduced by the 1883 eruption of the Krakatoa volcano in Indonesia. Volcanic aerosols blocked sunlight and caused the ocean surface to cool. "That cooling penetrated into deeper layers of the ocean, where it remained for...

Link above or this shows pictures from the ongoing activity of Augustine, which was a bit more vociferous this past weekend and yesterday. Augustine Images -- 2006 Related thread: Geology Pictures of the Week, Jan 29-Feb 4, 2006: Augustine (AK) Eruption and Kootenai Falls, MT

A two-fer this week; first, a picture of the strong Augustine eruption that happened Sunday. The linked page goes to the page with numerous IMPRESSIVE pictures of this year's activity. Part 2: "The River Wild" was on TV this weekend. I searched and found that the two rivers it was filmed on were in Montana. One of the rivers is the Kootenai River, featuring Kootenai Falls. According to the caption for this picture, Kootenai Falls at this stage is "runnable".

I posted this as the Geology Picture of the Week, but I felt that it's "newsworthy" enough for the Activism side. Geology Picture of the Week, December 18-24, 2005: Augustine Volcano Erupts (Alaska)

Here's a couple pictures of Augustine from ground level or air. I seem to remember that the late Kraffts (famous and somewhat reckless volcano photographers) did some nuee ardente photography on the slopes of Augustine. However, they were unsatisfied with the results, so later on they went to Mount Unzen in Japan, and a larger-than-expected nuee ardente incinerated them. If you play with fire... 1986 Eruption A nuee ardente heads downslope On a quieter day

The view from space: and underwater: and classically:

Imagine living in a country where three volcanoes are erupting at the same time, two others could blow in the very near future and 169 others are capable of awakening -- including scores deemed worthy of constant monitoring. Imagine living in a place where, in the past 25 years alone, communities have been wiped out by lava flows; eruptions have flattened huge expanses of land and killed people miles away; and avalanches of volcanic debris have swept people to their deaths. If you live in America, you live in such a country. . . . For about $15 million, the...

Thousands flee in panic as Indonesian volcano spews into life MOUNT TALANG, Indonesia (AFP) - A volcano spewed into life on Indonesia's disaster-blighted Sumatra island, spreading new panic after the recent tsunami and earthquakes and driving thousands from their homes. Mount Talang, 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Sumatra's coastal Padang city began pumping out volcanic ash shortly before dawn, prompting scientists to urge people to move away from the fall-out zone. More than 20,000 people have been evacuated from the volcano's slope, the Antara news agency quoted local official Bustamar saying. It said the volcano's status had been raised...

Favourable weather conditions have reduced the threat to residents in Perth's hills from a large bushfire that has been raging for days. The Fire and Emergency Services Authority says the blaze is spreading at the rate of one kilometre every hour and has burnt out 15,500 hectares since it started on the weekend. Most residents in the hills are opting to stay and protect their homes but Steve Harding from Mundaring says others plan to leave. "I've seen people with trailers full of gear leaving ... and people with cars packed up and ready to go as well," he said....

GUEST OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR Oxford, England LAST week I stood among flag-waving demonstrators in Independence Square in Kiev and heard the leader of Ukraine's "orange revolution," Viktor Yushchenko, triumphantly declare that Ukraine was a European country. Not Western, not merely democratic, and obviously not American - European. Yesterday in Brussels, the leaders of the 25 member states of the European Union agreed to open negotiations with Turkey next year to join the union. Mr. Yushchenko, meanwhile, who will probably be elected president on Dec. 26, is also expected to seek a promise of eventual membership in the European Union for Ukraine...

Two GREAT views of the Grand Canyon and Bandelier NM and environment. Arizonans, I'd like you to check the larger version of the Arizona image and see if you can identify a particular weird feature. (See below the image for my question.) Click on each image to see the larger version. Grand Canyon in Snow (Larger version is 2.1 MB.) In the larger version, to the west of the lower Grand Canyon and southeast of Lake Mohave and a small mountain range, there's a flat light-brown patch. Does anyone know what that is, or is it an image artifact? Bandelier...

Link post: access the thread for discussion and comment in the Chat section: Geology Pictures of the Week, November 7-13, 2004: Volcanoes and more volcanoes

Link post: access the thread for discussion and comment in the Chat section: Geology Pictures of the Week, November 7-13, 2004: Volcanoes and more volcanoes

Those of you familiar with the Geology Picture of the Week probably know that I have a penchant for volcanic activity. And I was going to do something else this week, but that was until I looked at the most recent photos from Grimsvotn. The one I'm posting is truly amazing. So I decided to put up a couple other pictures from current volcanic activity, and next week I'll do something that is NOT igneous, I promise! Click for full size. This eruption melted a LOT of ice on Vatnajokull. The eruption ended November 6. Source: Grímsvatnagos 2004 Click for...

Link post: access the thread (and add to it) in the "chat" section: Geology Picture of the Week Addendum: Grimsvotn eruption

Link post; please access the images and links at the link below, and post comments and discussion on that thread, not this one (it's a Chat subject!) Geology Picture of the Week, September 26-October 2, 2004: Etna eruption (and live cam link)

Russian volcano spews out huge cloud of ash January 14 2004 at 08:03AM Vladivostok - One of the main volcanoes in Russia's far eastern Kamchatka peninsula erupted on Wednesday, spewing out a huge cloud of ash and steam, local vulcanologists said. The plume rose about 8 000m above the Bezimyanny volcano, with dirt and snow avalanches streaming down its slopes and numerous tremors registered in its depths. The 2 900m Bezimyanny is subject to frequent eruptions, the latest registered in July. Such eruptions are frequent occurrences in the almost-uninhabited Kamchatka where there are about 120 volcanos, 28 of them active....

<p>UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter released a new book, accusing President Bush of illegally attacking Iraq and calling for "regime change" in the United States at the next election.</p> <p>Ritter criticized key figures caught up in the U.S.-led war at Monday's U.N. news conference. He said Bush lied to the American people and Congress about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction; U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan lacked courage; former chief weapons inspector Hans Blix was "a moral and intellectual coward."</p>

War may lead to free PalestineBy Timothy Garton Ash Thursday, Apr 10, 2003,Page 9 "Free Palestine" said the placards held up by some marchers on the anti-war demonstrations. Well, here's a surprise for them: this bloody mess of a war may result in a free Palestine. Let me explain, through this extract from the 2020 edition of the Oxford History of the Contemporary World: "Curiously, the Iraq war can now be seen as the turning-point in progress towards an independent Palestinian state. Of course American forces, with their overwhelming technological superiority, succeeded militarily in defeating Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, but,...

The newly-discovered footprints descending an inclined slope of an extinct volcano (Pic: University of Padua)  Markings in hardened volcanic ash, dubbed "devils' trails" by local Italian villagers, have been confirmed as the oldest-known footprints ever made by humans. The fossilised hand and footprints belong to three early humans who were probably climbing down the side of the Roccamonfina volcano in southern Italy about 385,000 to 325,000 years ago, report a team of Italian palaeontologists in today's issue of the journal, Nature. "We believe that these tracks are the oldest human footprints found so far," said Professor Paolo Mietto of...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 January 02 Mt. Etna Eruption Plume Credit: International Space Station Crew, NASA Explanation: Mt. Etna has been erupting for hundreds of thousands of years. In late October of last year, however, earthquakes triggered a particularly vigorous outburst from this well known volcano on the Italian island of Sicily. Local schools were closed and air-traffic re-routed as hot lava poured out and ash spewed out and settled as...

Years later, long-fought ash returning By Tom Avril Inquirer Staff WriterThe ash is coming back.Sixteen years after a pile of Philadelphia's garbage was burned, put on the barge Khian Sea, and sent on a fruitless international quest for a final resting place, some of it is coming home to Pennsylvania.The 2,500 tons of ash sitting on a barge in Florida are expected by mid-July at the Mountain View Reclamation Landfill in south-central Pennsylvania, near the Maryland border.State officials said the ash was not hazardous, and that it made sense to accept it here because it was created here."I'm glad we're...

Space Shuttle view of ongoing eruption on Montserrat in the West Indies. Ash and Steam, Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat