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    Chaiten Volcano Erupts: Natural Hazards

    Chaiten Volcano Erupts: Natural Hazards

    WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES

    08.03.2011

    Courtesy Photo

    NASA

    After more than 9,000 years of silence, Chaiten Volcano in southern Chile erupted on May 2, 2008. The plume of ash and steam rose 10.7 to 16.8 kilometers (35,000 to 55,000 feet) into the atmosphere, reported the Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Program. According to news reports issued by the AFP news service, ash blanketed the town of Chaiten, 10 kilometers away, forcing the town's 4,000 people to evacuate by boat.

    On May 3, ash and steam continued to billow from the volcano. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ( modis.gsfc.nasa.gov MODIS ) on NASA's terra.nasa.gov/ Terra satellite captured this photo-like image of a long, cloud-like plume flowing southeast from the volcano's summit on May 3 at 10:35 a.m. local time (14:35 UTC). The plume rises high over the Andes Mountains, drifts across Argentina, and dissipates over the Atlantic Ocean. Ash closed schools, roads, and an airport in Argentina, hundreds of kilometers away from the volcano, said AFP.

    Radiocarbon dating of the last lava flow from Chaiten Volcano suggests that the volcano last erupted in 7420 BC, plus or minus 75 years, says the Global Volcanism Program. The volcano has a history of explosive eruptions with pyroclastic flows associated with dome collapse. During an eruption, some volcanoes build a dome of lava. Eventually, hot blocks of lava break away from the dome, triggering a fast-moving avalanche of hot volcanic ash, gas, and lava, called a As of May 5, ash continued to rise from the volcano, but no pyroclastic flows had been reported.

    The large image provided above is at MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The image is available in rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2008124-0503/Chile.A2008124.1435.250m.jpg additional resolutions from the MODIS Rapid Response System.

    • Buenos Aires Volcanic Ash Advisory Center. (2008, May 5). www.ssd.noaa.gov/VAAC/OTH/AG/messages.html Volcanic Ash Advisories. Accessed May 5, 2008.
    • Global Volcanism Program. www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1508-041 Chiaten. Smithsonian Institution. Accessed May 5, 2008.
    • Global Volcanism Program. (2008, May 2). www.volcano.si.edu/index.cfm Volcano News. Smithsonian Institution. Accessed May 5, 2008.
    • Seach, J. (2008, May 4). www.volcanolive.com/news.html Volcano News Volcano Live. Accessed May 5, 2008.
    • Volcano Hazards Program. (2006, March 17). volcanoes.usgs.gov/Hazards/What/PF/PFUnzen.html Dome Collapses Generate Pyroclastic Flows, Unzen Volcano, Japan. USGS. Accessed May 5, 2008.

    NASA images courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Holli Riebeek.



    NASA Identifier: Chile_TMO_2008124

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    IMAGE INFO

    Date Taken: 08.03.2011
    Date Posted: 02.08.2013 01:38
    Photo ID: 831028
    Resolution: 3200x2400
    Size: 1.07 MB
    Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., US

    Web Views: 212
    Downloads: 3

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