Gallery: Amazing Views of the World's Volcanoes From the International Space Station
01adwa-and-ayelu-ethiopia
Few people have seen as many volcanoes as the astronauts that inhabit the [International Space Station](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html). Not only does their imaging of the Earth's surface capture volcanism action, but it can provide remote sensing information on volcanoes that geologists cannot visit with any regularity. In honor of the thousands of volcano images that have been taken from the ISS, I present a gallery of some of the best shots I found, including some volcanoes that most people don't even know exist! __Above:__ Adwa and Ayelu, Ethiopia ------------------------ To start our tour of volcanoes seen from the International Space Station, we can start with one of the most recent shots. Commander Hatfield captured this image of two Ethiopian volcanoes in the morning light -- [Adwa](http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0201-17=) on the left with the large summit caldera and Ayelu, an older stratovolcano, on the right. One of the advantages of space-borne imaging is that we can monitor volcanoes that in remote locations, like the East African Rift valley of Ethiopia. As the eruption of [Nabro in 2011](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/07/dissecting-the-nabro-lava-flow-from-space/) shows, sometimes these distant volcanoes can produce eruptions with [far-reaching significance](http://www.nrl.navy.mil/media/news-releases/2013/violent-nabro-eruption-shown-to-pierce-stratosphere). *Image: [Commander Chris Hadfield, CSA](http://twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/status/300013895253360640/photo/1) / Taken February 8, 2013.*
02wau-en-namus-libya
Wau-en-namus, Libya ------------------- Libya is not the first place most people think of when they think of volcanoes. However, there are some volcanoes in the north African country, such as [Wau-en-namus](http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0205-008). Trying to determine how old they are can be tricky. The arid environment of the Sahara can make old volcanic deposits look like they formed yesterday. The best estimate for the age of these [basaltic tephra cones](http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/wau-en-namus) (whose name translates to "Oasis of Mosquitoes") within the larger caldera is Holocene -- sometime in the last 10,000 years. *Image: Courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center / [Taken May 16, 2007](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS015&roll=E&frame=8539).*
03santorini-greece
Santorini, Greece ----------------- [Santorini](http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0102-04=) is defintely a more famous volcano that Wau-en-namus, as the [caldera-forming eruption ~3600 years ago](http://www.uri.edu/endeavor/thera/eruption.html) could be the source of the Atlantis legend. The center of the caldera is now being filled by [Nea Kameni](http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Nea_Kameni_volcano_movement_captured_by_Envisat), the small island with the tendrils of lava flows heading off into the sea. *Image: Courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center / [Taken August 15, 2009.](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS020&roll=E&frame=31043)*
04ksudach-russia
Ksudach, Russia --------------- Now, if the Santorini occurred in a continental arc rather than an island, this is how it might look. The [Ksudach](http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1000-05=) caldera, as the image suggests, has had a complex history of caldera formation and post-caldera eruptions that changed the appearance of the volcano. The [most recent eruption was in 1907](http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1000-05=&volpage=erupt) from the crater with the lake covered by crescent-shaped broken ice -- and it was a doozy, ranking as [a VEI 5](http://gsabulletin.gsapubs.org/content/107/8/969.abstract) (erupting at 2.8 cubic kilometers of tephra). *Image: *Courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center* / [Taken June 17, 2009](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS020&roll=E&frame=11584).*
05maipo-chile
Maipo, Chile/Argentina ---------------------- One of the many volcanoes that mark the border between Chile and its neighbor, Argentina, [Maipo](http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1507-021) is a stratovolcano rising from a previous caldera volcano. This image shows the younger, dark that mark the modern edifice that partially fills the Diamante caldera. A 19th-century eruption of Maipo blocked drainages within the caldera to form [Lago Diamante](http://www.flickr.com/photos/monolive/8169408888/), seen just below Maipo itself in the image. *Image: [Commander Chris Hadfield / Taken February 5, 2013](http://twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/status/298892362627837953/photo/1).*
06san-pedro-and-san-pablo-chile
San Pedro and San Pablo, Chile ------------------------------ The second of the three Chilean volcanoes in this gallery, this image captures both [San Pedro](http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1505-07=) and San Pablo in north-central Chile. These volcanoes are quite near [my dissertation field area](http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=150505=A) and mark the gateway to the volcanoes of the high Andes. San Pedro (to the right) last erupted in the 1960s, while San Pablo (to the left) is an older volcano that has been dissected by weathering -- although in the arid climate of the norther Chilean Andes, this could mean it hasn't been active for thousands of years (or more). *Image: *Courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center* / [Taken November 2, 2002](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS005&roll=E&frame=19394).*
07osorno-chile
Osorno, Chile ------------- The final Chilean volcano is the snow-capped [Osorno](http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1508-01=), in southern Chile. It clearly has the classical conical profile of a stratovolcano. The last known eruption of Osorno was a [VEI 2 eruption in 1869](http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1508-01=&volpage=erupt). *Image: *Courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center* / [Taken January 28, 2011](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS026&roll=E&frame=21418).*
08bazman-iran
Bazman, Iran ------------ Another one of those volcanoes in countries most people don't associate with volcanism, not much is known about [Bazman](http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0302-03-) in [Iran](http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/iran.html). One of the most prominent features in the thick lava flow on the western flank (left side) of the volcano, with the flow levees and steep flow front. Now, at first glance, I would have guessed a flow like this would be a silicic lava -- andesite, dacite or rhyolite -- as they are more viscous than basalt. However, that flow is apparently an olivine basalt flow (according to the *Global Volcanism Program*)! There have been no known historical eruption at Bazman. *Image: *Courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center* / [Taken December 7, 2002](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS026&roll=E&frame=21418).*
09okmok-alaska
Okmok, Alaska ------------- This image might make you a little queasy -- the angle view of [Okmok](http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1101-29-) definitely gives you a feel for taking shots like this from space. Okmok is another caldera that has since been partially filled by later volcanism, including the small basaltic cinder cone (Mt. Tulik) seen in the image. The caldera has changed since this picture was taken in 2001 as the caldera produced a VEI 4 eruption during [July and August 2008](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/07/photo-of-the-2008-okmok-eruption/). *Image: *Courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center* / [Taken May 18, 2001](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS002&roll=E&frame=6065).*
10rinjani-indonesia
Rinjani, Indonesia ------------------ I suppose I am a sucker for caldera volcanoes, but they provide some of the more dramatic landscapes, especially when seen from space. [Rinjani](http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0604-03=) is a complex volcano, with the Segara Anak caldera and the Barujari cinder cone within the caldera on the edge of the lake. Barujari is the source of all known historical eruptions from Rinjani, as [recently as 2010](http://www.rttnews.com/story.aspx?ID=1313732&SM=1). *Image: *Courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center* / [Taken September 21, 2002](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS005&roll=E&frame=15296).*
11usu-japan
Usu, Japan ---------- [Usu](http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0805-03=) is only part of this image, which is dominated by the [Toya caldera](http://www.toya-usu-geopark.org/?pagename=english). Usu sits on the southern edge of the caldera (the image "upside-down" in the sense that south is up) while Nakajima Island in the middle of the caldera is composed of multiple andesitic domes. The [1663 eruption](http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006AGUFM.V11A0565T) of Usu was a VEI 5 event that is the largest historical eruption on Hokkaido. *Image: *Courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center* / [Taken March 9, 2001](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS001&roll=E&frame=6508).*
12ruapehu-tongariro-and-ngauruhoe-new-zealand
Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe and Tongariro, New Zealand --------------------------------------------- In this shot, we get a trio of Kiwi volcanoes -- from left to right, [Ruapehu](http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0401-10=), [Ngauruhoe and Tongariro](http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0401-08=). The [most recent activity](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/11/138781/) in this cluster at the south end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone is just off this shot, on the northern side of Tongariro (north is to the right in this image). However, the other volcanoes are no slouches -- Ruapehu is under almost constant unrest with the [last erupting coming in 2007](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=7534) while Ngaurahoe, actually the westernmost cone of Tongariro, [last erupted in 1977](http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_ngauruhoe.html). *Image: *Courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center* / [Taken October 23, 2010](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS025&roll=E&frame=8600).*
13soufriere-hills-monserrat
Soufriere Hills, Montserrat --------------------------- It must be exciting to be able to catch a volcano in the act of eruption from that far above -- one of the few places that humans lives that can't be adversely effected by volcanic activity. In this image, [Soufriere Hills](http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1600-05=) is producing a healthy ash plume and pyroclastic flow deposits are clearly seen forming deltas on multiple sides of the island volcano. *Image: *Courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center* / [Taken October 11, 2009](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS021&roll=E&frame=5554).*
14south-sister-12-14-09.jpg
South Sister, Rock Mesa and the Devil's Hills, Oregon ----------------------------------------------------- Last week we got a [ground-level look at the rhyodacite flows](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/02/obsidian-lava-flows-in-the-cascades/) on the flanks of [South Sister](http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1202-08-), but here we can see them all at once from space. The snow-covered Devil's Hills and the larger, broad Rock Mesa (to the left) sit on the southern and southeastern side of South Sister. These sets of domes are geologically young, erupting in the last 3,000 years. They must have been impressive features as some of the Devil's Hills at the bottom of the image have abundant petroglyphs painted on them as well. *Image: *Courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center* / Taken [December 14, 2009](http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS022&roll=E&frame=10919).*
