Are These The Most Incredible Volcano Pictures Ever?
The Tungurahua volcano erupts in the night. Tungurahua, also called the Black Giant, is one of Ecuador's most active volcanoes.
A few hundred degrees separates this pool of fiery orange magma in Italy’s Mount Etna from its hardened, grey crust. At nearly 3,353 metres (11,000 feet), Mount Etna is Europe’s highest active volcano.
Photograph by Carsten Peter, National GeographicActive pahoehoe lava flows, like the one seen here, are produced by superheated flowing magma.
An aerial view shows a crater lake in one of the many volcanoes in Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.
Mount Semeru, seen with an ash plume, is the highest volcano on the Indonesian island of Java and has been in a constant eruption since 1967. It lies at the southern end of the Tengger caldera, which contains smaller volcanoes Mount Bromo and Mount Batok (both seen in the foreground), and several others.
Photograph by John Stanmeyer, National GeographicCleveland Volcano releases a plume of ash that rises almost 6,000 metres (20,000 feet) above the North Pacific Ocean in this aerial photograph. Cleveland Volcano, located in the Aleutian Islands southwest of Alaska, failed to produce an eruption and the plume of ash detached from the volcano two hours after it formed.
Photograph by NASA Earth ObservatoryA bright bolt of lightning crackles within the ash cloud from the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland in April 2010. Volcanic lightning occurs when roiling ash particles rub against each other and become electrically charged.
Photograph by Peter Vancoillie, National Geographic Your ShotLava flows into a valley in southern Iceland near the Eyjafjallajökull volcano.
Photograph by Snorri Gunnarsson, National Geographic Your ShotLights illuminate the Thurston Lava Tube in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Lava tubes serve as underground pipelines, allowing molten rock to flow under and away from volcanoes.
Photograph by Kevin Hazelton, National Geographic Your ShotGeese fly past the ash cloud from the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano that began in April 2010. Ash from the volcano disrupted air traffic in Europe for more than a month.
Photograph by Snorri Gunnarsson, National Geographic Your ShotAn aerial view of the Krasheninnikov volcano in Russia.
Climbers mount whorls of lava on the caldera of Ethiopia’s Ertale Volcano as steam escapes from a lava lake in the volcano’s crater, which can reach temperatures of 1,020°C (1,868°F).
Photograph by Carsten Peter, National GeographicA volcanic eruption and the eruption of light from charged particles in the atmosphere — called the Northern Lights— occur at the same time in Iceland. The island nation was created by volcanic activity and today has 35 active volcanoes, which provide the country with plentiful geothermal power.
Photograph by James Appleton, National Geographic Your Shot