It has been almost a month since the last Vulcan's View, so it seemed like it was time to break out another round of excellent images of volcanoes seen from space. This isn't a summary of all the volcanic activity going on right now on Earth - if you want to see that, be sure to check out the latest Smithsonian/USGS Global Volcanism Program Weekly Volcanic Activity Report. There you'll find piles of information about the rumblings across the planet.
Off we go!
The eruption at Puyehue-Cordón Caulle has been puffing along for almost 10 months now with no real signs that it will be coming to a close soon. This NASA Earth Observatory image (above) captures the extent of ash cover in the area near the active vent, but remember, ash from this eruption was spread over much of southern South America (in some places, likely only a few millimeters thick). Trying to estimate how much material was erupted during the last 10 months is tricky because of this dispersal of ash. However, by mapping the thickness of the ash around the volcano and in the outlying regions, volcanologists can make isopach maps that estimate the thickness of ash over a given area, which can then be used to estimate the total volume of ash produced. Another cool feature of this image is that it shows just how complete the volcanic region at Puyehue-Cordón Caulle is, with the Puyehue caldera to the south and the multitude of lava flows and domes related to Cordón Caulle to the north.
Image: Puyehue-Cordón Caulle on January 26, 2012 / NASA Earth Observatory
Erik Klemetti is an assistant professor of Geosciences at Denison University. His passion in geology is volcanoes, and he has studied them all over the world. You can follow Erik on Twitter, where you'll get volcano news and the occasional baseball comment.
Follow @eruptionsblog on Twitter.
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