It’s Volcano Week 4 here at GSS. Volcanoes, about a week. You know the drill!

Rising up from the pastoral plains of Luzon Island in the Philippines is Mount Mayon, an active 2,400 metre-high stratovolcano. Known as the “perfect cone,” Mayon Volcano looks surreal in its symmetry, a true masterpiece of nature.

The volcano rises up in stark contrast to the surrounding flat terrain, its upper slopes averaging a 35-40 degree grade. Eruptions occur primarily from a small volcanic crater but have also created pyroclastic flows that carved over 40 ravines around Mayon’s cone. Viewing Mt. Mayon in Google Earth shows its unique shape:

With 47 eruptions since 1616, it is the most active volcano in the Philippines and remains a danger to nearby villages even today. Its deadliest eruption took place in February of 1814 and killed over 1,300 people. During that Pompeii-style eruption, Mayon Volcano reportedly spewed plumes of hot ash while fast-moving lava flows completely covered the village of Cagsawa. The town’s bell tower was the only structure left standing after the eruption had ended.

In recent decades, Mayon Volcano has continued to make its presence known in the region. With eruptions in 1984, 1993, 2006, and 2008, the residents of nearby towns and villages have become accustomed to frequent evacuation warnings and safety alerts. If you’re one of those adventurous¹ types who likes a steep uphill climb, try Mount Mayon, but be sure to wear a helmet and watch for falling debris and hot magma.

It’s Volcano Week 4 here at GSS. Volcanoes, about a week. You know the drill!

Beauty sometimes erupts from utter disaster. Take, for example, the gorgeous crater lake that formed in the remnant bowl of the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines. A stunning natural wonder was created from one of the largest, most devastating volcanic eruptions in the past 100 years.

No one knew there was volcanic action happening far below the surface of Pinatubo. The local indigenous people, the Aeta, had no recollection of any previous blasts in their oral history and geologist data was scarce as well.

Yet, during the month of June, 1991 the mountain spewed forth 10 cubic kilometres of hot, molten magma; injecting more aerosols into the stratosphere than that of Krakatoa – one hundred years before.

Due in part to Typhoon Yunya that was ripping through the island nation, the ash cloud that should have been spread over the surrounding oceans instead cycloned back over the Luzon region, where Pinatubo once lay dormant.

The mixture of the typhoon force winds and rain with the ash cloud resulted in a rainfall of heavy mud causing considerable damage to neighboring cities. This included the already evacuated Clark Airbase, a U.S. Air Force establishment, whose many flat-roofed buildings collapsed under the weight of the ash and mud.

The military never permanently returned to the base, instead they turned it over to the Philippine government, who converted half of it into a Philippine Air Force base and the other half into a Holiday Inn Resort complex.

It is easy to see the ravines and canyons coming down the sides of the mountain that are now filled with lahar, a volcanic mud mixture. Lahar filled river beds streak the landscape leading away from Pinatubo.

After years of rainfall, the basin of the once-mountain filled with water to form Pinatubo Crater Lake. Now a tourist destination, many will trek for several hours through deep jungle trails to reach the clear waters of the lake.

Back in 2002, the lake had filled the crater so much that there was fear that the rim might collapse, causing considerable damage to local farms and endangering some 45,000 residents in neighboring villages.

To prevent such a collapse, the government commissioned engineers who sand bagged a makeshift river bed, using a lahar mudflow path, 5 metres wide and then cut a notch the same width in the lowest part of the crater’s rim. They managed to drain off 25% of the crater’s water into the nearby Bucao River.

All in all the blast at Pinatubo caused the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, the deaths of over eight hundred, and damaged billions of pesos worth of property, buildings, and farmland. But, they got a very beautiful lake out of it – that is, if you’re willing to make the trek.

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.

(Wikipedia)

Welcome to day three of Google Sightseeing Reader Takeover Week! Every day this week, one of you has been chosen to have their very own sight posted here on GSS, while Alex and James take a well deserved holiday. Today’s sight is from Eugene Villar!

Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition is the world’s first successful circumnavigation around the world. Unfortunately, Magellan himself died during the journey and only one ship and 18 crew members returned to Spain from the original four ships and 270 people.

Magellan met his demise in the Philippine Islands, specifically on Mactan Island in Cebu province, where he engaged in local politics. He died during the Battle of Mactan on April 27, 1521 while fighting against the tribe of the local chieftain Lapu-Lapu on the shores of Mactan Island.

The Mactan Shrine is dedicated to both Magellan and Lapu-Lapu and marks the spot where the Battle of Mactan supposedly took place. At the center of a square plaza in the shrine is an obelisk built in memory of Magellan and to the north at the center of a circular plaza is a 20-foot tall bronze statue of Lapu-Lapu, now considered as the Philippines’ first national hero.

Every year on April 27, the Battle of Mactan is re-enacted during the Kadaugan sa Mactan festival along the marshes to the north of the shrine.

More info on the Wikipedia pages for Ferdinand Magell, Battle of Mactan, Lapu-Lapu and on Vista Pinas.