Tag Archives: lava

Icelandic photographer Jan Erik Weider’s portraits of molten rock flows from the Fagradalsfjall volcano who spent three days earlier this year getting as up close and personal as humanly possible. To wit:

I was absolutely blown away by how quickly the lava field changed. Apparently, cooled lava broke open, and thick, fresh lava flowed out and formed new shapes and “sculptures,” which were then destroyed again by new lava a few minutes later. This simultaneously beautiful but also brutal transience was the charm for me. A surreal landscape that in just a few minutes will no longer be visible to anyone.

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Jp13-021-5DII Jp13-361D8 volcano-2 Jp13-084-5DIIJp13-084-5DIIdet Jp13-089-5DIIPhotographer Martin Rietze’s extraordinary photos of the Sakurajima volcano in southern Kyushu, Japan as it disgorged smoke, fire and lava bombs in January, culminating in a violent 20 second lightning show.

The exact cause of volcanic lightning remains unclear. It could be caused by electrically charged volcanic dust or the motion of electrically charged magma bubbles as they are catapulted upward. Or lava pixies. Maybe not lava pixies.

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Dallas Nagata White and her husband were visiting a Kilauea lava flow in Hawaii and, sez she:

…(we) hiked up to what was formerly the Royal Gardens subdivision above Kalapana, Hawaii, where the last standing house was just recently taken over by the active lava flow. While waiting for the rain to pass, we started taking back-lit portraits of each other in front of the lava flow after I set up my camera on the tripod. For the last photo, my husband spontaneously dipped me in a kiss. It was a truly once-in-a-lifetime moment!

Click the image for full epic effect.

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Last June, an intrepid team of scientists and explorers ventured onto the shore of the world’s largest lava lake –  8 million cubic meters of liquid rock, boiling in the depths of the Nyiragongo Crater on the Rwanda/Congo border in Africa.

To get a sense of scale, look at the figure on the bottom left of the fourth image.

Now check out the full sequence.

Nyiragongo Crater: Journey to the Center of the World – 28 hi-res photos – (Boston Globe)