ISS films Sarychev Peak volcanic eruption

_{Back to MainPage.  Back to MiscellaneousStuff.}

Here's a video taken by the astronauts on the ISS, as they passed over Russia's Kuril Islands on 12^th June, 2009.  They caught Sarychev Peak, on Matua Island as it was erupting.  The hole in the clouds seems to have been neatly carved by a shockwave.

This detailed astronaut photograph is exciting to volcanologists because it captures several phenomena that occur during the earliest stages of an explosive volcanic eruption. The main column is one of a series of plumes that rose above Matua Island on June 12. The plume appears to be a combination of brown ash and white steam. The vigorously rising plume gives the steam a bubble-like appearance.
...
(Since these images were captured) scientists have proposed—and disagreed about—three possible explanations for the hole in the cloud deck above the volcano.
From Earth Observatory, NASA

Note that the annotation "pyroplastic" in the video should be "pyroclastic".

Here's Sarychev Peak, on Google Maps:

View Larger Map

_{Back to MainPage.  Back to MiscellaneousStuff.}