Geology Picture of the Week, October 10-16, 2004: Etna's slippery Slope (links to other eruptions)

Stromboli On-Line ^ | October 2004 | Various

[cogitator]

Can't resist another Etna picture for this week:

which is taken from the page below, which also has some new large-format QT movies:

Skylights and lava falls in Valle del Bove

Colima in Mexico got hot yesterday: the link below has some low-resolution Webcam animations:

Observatorio Vulcanológico de la Universidad de Colima

and finally, in an ancient volcano mode, this Earth Observatory image was an Ikonos view of Hanauma Bay on Oahu:

Hanauma Bay, Oahu, Hawaii

[cogitator]

And here just last month I was saying that there wasn't a whole lot of volcanic activity.

[cogitator]

** ping **

[Docbarleypop]

i miss the Etna, when i was stationed in Sicily i would ride bike to the top every week, have an espresso machiato at the cafe near the top then ride down.

[Iowa_Clone]

some nice Mt St Helens pics

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/Images/MSH04/

[cogitator]

Thanks for that link; I hadn't checked Mt. St. Helens for awhile after the major eruption threat became less likely. It'll be interesting to see if enough dome growth takes place to trigger some small pyroclastic flows when the dome collapses. Major dome collapses can also lead to a large eruption; probably nothing with major dangerous consequences except for observers that are too close to the volcano.

[DTogo]

I take it the people in these pictures are professional geologists, and not just regular folks checking it out?

[cogitator]

I take it the people in these pictures are professional geologists, and not just regular folks checking it out?

Some of them are professional, some semi-professional, and some of the people in a few of the pictures are tourists. The guys getting close to take the pictures are professionals.

[DTogo]

Having been to the lava flows in Hawaii, it was scary (and extremely hot) enough just to be 50ft. from a glowing red crack in the hardened surface and not know how thick (or thin) the crust was we were standing on. We, and many many other tourists, had ventured past the recommended "safe" zones. As a tourist I would never get that close to an active flow - way too hot and unpredictable.

[cogitator]

The thin crusts and the hot gases are dangerous, but at least there is some indication of where they are! I think that really dangerous situation in Hawaii has been the unstable "benches" that are created when the lava flows reach the ocean. They can collapse without any warning. I believe there were some fatalities earlier this year or last year when this happened.

[DTogo]

Yes, we saw warnings and heard stories of steam and collapsings, so we stayed very far from the edge. Plus it's such a darn long walk to begin with, then there's the sun, the heat radiating from the black rock, the open vent we saw (which, despite the 50+ ft. distance still radiated heat like an open oven in front of you). We were all hot and very thirsty when we got back, even though we carried water with us, but it was worth it!