Photo: Russian Volcano Carves Lava River
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 Fresh basaltic lava coats the slopes of Tolbachik volcano, in Russia's Kamchatka peninsula, in a NASA satellite image taken March 6.CREDIT: NASA Earth Observatory |
Fresh lava flows down Tolbachik volcano in Russia's Kamchatka peninsula in a new space snapshot from NASA's Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite.
The fiery volcano erupted on Nov. 27, 2012, pouring fast-moving basalt lava through snow and ice on its steep flanks. A near-permanent ash plume rose from Tolbachik, visible in the March 6 satellite image.
The volcanic edifice records a complex geologic history. The western half of Tolbachik is a steep-sided stratovolcano, like Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens in Washington, according to NASA's Earth Observatory. The eastern half is a broad, flat shield volcano, like Hawaii's Kilauea volcano, with nested calderas at the summit. Calderas are bowl-shaped depressions left behind when a volcano violently explodes, emptying its magma chamber.
With more than 300 volcanoes crowded into a California-size peninsula, Russia's Kamchatka is home to the world's highest concentration of active volcanoes. Only 29 are currently active, according to the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program.
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