It’s Volcano Week 3 here at GSS, which explains why our posts over the course of this week have been mostly volcano related.

Kīlauea on the island of Hawaiʻi is often considered to be the world’s most active volcano.

The Hawaiian name “Kīlauea” translates to “spewing” or “much spreading”, which makes sense as it has been spewing lava non-stop since 1983.

Some of this 700 °C molten lava eventually reaches to the sea, where the explosive collision instantly boils the water and sets the lava.

The Google Earth image shows the giant cloud of stream rising from the shore or you can see the on YouTube.

The Google Earth image shows the giant cloud of stream that rises from the shore, and you can also see the dramatic meeting on YouTube.

In recent months activity at Kīlauea has stepped up, with explosive eruptions at the Halema`uma`u crater.

In the Google Earth image of the crater there is no explosion, but there’s another giant cloud, this time of the slightly more toxic sulfur dioxide. Another video on YouTube is of a burning eruption that was filmed just a couple of days ago.

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Read more about Kīlauea and Halema`uma`u crater on Wikipedia and the other Volcanos of Hawaii in our previous post.

Thanks to Barnstormer66.

It’s Volcano Week 3 here at GSS, which explains why all of our posts over the course of the week are very likely to be volcano related.

In a suburb of Naples lies a shallow volcanic crater named Solfatara.

Considered dormant since its last eruption in 1198, today the crater has bubbling mud pools and fumaroles which emit steam containing sulfur and other gases. If you’re thinking that may smell bad, you’d be correct. The stench is indescribable!

Hard to imagine then, people of the late 19th century voluntarily sitting in caves near the crater that were turned into natural saunas. Breathing the air was thought to help respiratory problems while the volcanic mud was considered beneficial for the skin.

While not as popular a tourist attraction as nearby Vesuvius, Solfatara is worth a visit to experience the heat and odour of what the Greeks and Romans were convinced was the entrance to the Underworld.

There’s a little more about the Solfatara volcano at Wikipedia, and lots of info at the volcano’s official site.

It’s Volcano Week 3 here at GSS, which explains why all of our posts over the course of the week are very likely to be volcano related.

Mount Nyiragongo is an active volcano in the Virunga mountain range which runs along the northern border of Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda.

Together with its partner in crime, Mount Nyamuragira, the volcanoes are disproportionally responsible for nearly two-fifths of Africa’s historical volcanic eruptions.

Nyiragongo last erupted in early 2002, when a large river of lava wreaked havoc on Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, destroying 40% of the city. Thanks to early-warning systems the majority of the population were evacuated, however some 120,000 people were made homeless in the devastation.

The Google Earth image of Goma was taken 3 years later, in February 2005. The dried lava flow is still apparent throughout the city including Goma International Airport, where the northern third of the main runway has been obliterated.

Today the airport is still closed to international flights and, as they are cut off from taxiing to the runway, the planes seen here have been trapped at this airport ever since the eruption.

Read more about Nyiragongo and Nyamuragira on Wikipedia and see ground level pictures on the BBC.

Thanks to Jez Robinson.

It’s Volcano Week 3 here at GSS, which explains why all of our posts over the course of the week are very likely to be volcano related.

Mount Tambora is an active volcano on the island of Sumbawa in Indonesia, which is noted for the largest and deadliest volcanic eruption in recorded history.

The eruption occurred in 1815, and could allegedly be heard from over 2000 km away. Lasting 5 days, the volcanic activity removed 1500 m of the volcano’s height, sent 2.5 million tons of ash into the air, and left a 7 km wide caldera behind.

The massive amount of extra dust in the atmosphere actually caused the temperature to fall worldwide, and 1816 became known as the Year Without a Summer, when crops and livestock died in much of the northern hemisphere – resulting in the worst famine of the 19th century.

Some 10,000 people are thought to have died directly as a result of the eruption, but factoring in the related famine and disease brings the total to at least 71,000 deaths.

You can read more about Mount Tambora and the Volcanic Explosivity Index on Wikipedia.

Thanks to Tim, Paul Drye, and Pedro Cristian.

It’s Island Week 3 here at GSS, which means we’ll mostly be posting about Islands. It’ll probably last about a week.

The island of Tristan da Cunha and its surrounding archipelago are located in the southern Atlantic ocean, 2816 km from the nearest continent, making it the most remote island in the world!

Tristan da Cunha is a dependency of the British overseas territory Saint Helena, and also a live volcanic island. The main settlement, “Edinburgh of the Seven Seas“¹, had to be temporarily abandoned in 1961 due the volcano erupting.

As Edinburgh of the Seven Seas is 2,400 km from the main settlement on Saint Helena, it chalks up an additional record of the “most remote permanent settlement in the world”.

The other islands in the archipelago include Gough Island, which has a temporary population of 6 South Africans who work at the small weather station…

… and the mysterious sounding Inaccessible Island. Officially uninhabited (presumably for obvious reasons), Inaccessible Island also appears to be inaccessible to high-resolution photography satellites (unlike the rest of the archipelago).

More info on Tristan da Cunha, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas and Saint Helena can be found at Wikipedia.

Thanks to Nico, Tom and Matt.