Google Sightseeing takes you on tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Each weekday your guides James and Alex present new weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.
Semeru is a highly active stratovolcano, and at 3676 m is the tallest mountain on the island of Java, Indonesia.
Semeru has reportedly been in a state of almost continuous eruption since 1967, and was clearly not having a day off on the day that these truly stunning images were taken.
Thanks to TexasAndroid.
Taal Volcano is another active stratovolcano, this time on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, and at only 406 metres, it is known as the world’s smallest volcano.
Actually Taal’s crater has a lake in it… sadly the high-res imagery here didn’t quite cover the crater lake, but this aerial photograph reveals that in the crater lake itself actually contains a tiny little island – which is no less than the world’s largest island in a lake on an island in a lake on an island!
See our post from last year’s Island Week 2 for loads more crazy island/lake recursion.
Parícutin is a very young cinder cone volcano in Mexico, and like most cinder cones it will never erupt again – but the story of its creation is a truly fascinating one.
On February 20, 1943, a local farmer by the name of Dionisio Pulido witnessed a fissure appearing in his cornfield, which immediately began to spew forth ash and stones. Astonishingly within just one year the fissure had grown into a 336 m tall volcano!
Over the course of the next 8 years the volcano grew to a final height of 424 m and simultaneously buried 25 km² of the surrounding land, including two entire villages! The top of a nearby church is still visible above the long solidified magma.
Thanks to Maite Elguero.
Mount Taranaki/Egmont is another (apparently) active stratovolcano in New Zealand, but this one hasn’t done anything at all since the early 1800s when it reportedly produced “a moderate ash eruption”.1
Most interestingly from our perspective is that we can clearly see how very symmetrical this volcano is. A secondary cone to the south somewhat ruins the effect, but not enough to prevent filmmakers from having used this volcano as a double for Japan’s Mount Fuji in the movie The Last Samurai.
Thanks to Papapenguin and Glenn.
Research shows that minor eruptions have occurred here every 90 years on average, with major eruptions occurring every 500 years. So perhaps a large eruption ought to be expected soon! You know, within the next 300 years or so… ↩
Whakaari/White Island (to give it its official title) is an active andesite stratovolcano 48 km from the east coast of the north island of New Zealand. The volcano reaches 321 m above sea level, but this is actually just the tip of a 1600 m submarine mountain.
Notably, even though the imagery here is low-res you can’t possibly miss the impressively huge smoke plume that stretches northwards away from the island.
Thanks to Henk Bokhoven.
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