Usu, Nakajima and the Toya Caldera, Hokkaido, Japan (Hokkaido 1)

Panoramic photo of Lake Toya and Toya Caldera looking west. Nakajima Island(s) are located in the lake in the right portion of the image. Usu volcano is left of the lake straddling the land between the lake to the right and the ocean to the left. Image courtesy Toya-Usu UNESCO Global Geopark

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Cut, Corroded and Collapsed – Gunung PAPANDAYAN (🇮🇩)

“Vulkan Papandajan auf Java” (1905). Painting by the German zoologist and naturalist Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919).

G. Papandayan seen from the north. Complete mountain range on the left; zoom into the main crater with the head scarp of the 1772 collapse on the right. (© GMaps)

Papandayan is the volcano you can actually see on satellite images (e.g. Google Earth) even from a view point 800 km above ground – it is the white patch of a collapse scar that stands out in stark contrast from the dark green forest. The volcano sits at the southern end of the Kendang-Papandayan mountain range.

G. Papandayan is generally said to be 2665 m high but there seems to be some confusion as to location and actual height

Lago Ilopango – an El Salvador Caldera (updated and reposted)

Ilopango Caldera

 

Update, Aug. 2019:

In the five years since this was first posted, science continues to grind away, answering a few questions which in turn create a bunch more questions.  The Baillie tree ring / ice core team is increasingly of the opinion that the 535 – 540 AD global cooldown was caused by huge volcanic eruptions, at least two of them bracketing the period.  A team including Robert A Dull published a paper August 16 entitled “Radiocarbon and geologic evidence reveal ilopango volcano as the source of the colossal ‘mystery’ eruption of 539/40 CE” that appears to nicely define the most recent end of that bracket.

Are there Volcanoes in FIJI 🇫🇯 ?

(https://www.tourismfiji.com)

When the news reported multiple volcanoes erupting in Vanuatu – when new volcanoes appeared near Tonga Islands – when earthquakes shook most of Melanesia left right and center – I have often wondered if, or why, there are no volcanoes on the Fiji Islands? Well, you probably guess the answer – of course there are! They are just not very busy at the moment, so they may escape our attention, and may lull the residents in false security, too. The three that are mentioned by the GVP are Taveuni and Koro Islands, and Nabukelevu which occupies the SW end of Kadavu Island.

Shishaldin Volcano, Alaska – Neighbor to Fisher Caldera

Shishaldin from 11 km altitude. Note the steam from the ice-free crater. Image courtesy AVO, Jun 2015.

Up and Down and Up She Goes: ISCHIA ISLAND

“The island of Ischia seen from the sea, showing volcanic features”. Coloured etching by Pietro Fabris, 1776. (Iconographic Collections at Wellcome Images)

Ischia (pronounced: ‘Is-kyah) is a densely inhabited volcanic island in the Bay of Naples, on the mid-southwestern coast of Italy, some 30km from the Naples mainland. Most people know that the island of Ischia is of a volcanic nature. Many of them believe that it is just another extinct volcanic cone, layers over layers of lava, piled up throughout distant eruptive periods. Not so! The interesting thing is that it’s not your off-the-shelf volcano grown from a seamount before emerging above the sea surface. Ischia has a distinctly different geological history compared to the island volcanoes we know from subduction zones. And, of course, it is not extinct.

June 22 Eruption at Raikoke, Kuril Islands

 

NASA ISS photo of Raikoke in eruption taken June 22. Active plume with water vapor collar at the base. Water vapor collar at the base may be due to ambient air sucked upwards with the plume. Alternately, it may be due to interaction of pyroclastic flows with surrounding sea water. Image courtesy NASA Earth Observatory.

Simushir Island – Nested Calderas and Secret Sub Bases, Central Kuril Islands

Simushir Island. Volcanoes named on the image. Photo courtesy Japan Space ASTER, Oct. 2004.

Quite Off the Beaten Track – ASCENSION I. 🇦🇨

View from Green Mountain across volcanic cinder cones, with Sisters Peak towering over the little town of Two Boats. (© BBC)

“The 7th June anno 1656. Att evening wee arrived att Ascention and anchored on the NW side of the iland. On our rightt hand was a faire sandy bay

Suwanose-jima, one of Japan’s Most Active Volcanoes

Suwanose-jima island and Otake volcano in its center. Flank collapse and new pyroclastic cone are clearly visible on the center and to the east of the crater. Image screen capture via Google maps.