In late October 2006, Mount Belinda, on Montagu Island in the remote South Sandwich Islands, continued emitting volcanic ash and lava in what had become a five-year-long eruption. The volcano’s activity intensified in September 2005, producing a lava field that traveled 3.5 kilometers (2 miles) from Mount Belinda to the sea. That lava eruption left a 500-meter-wide lava delta, still visible more than a year later.

On October 28, 2006, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image of Montagu. This image shows an ash plume covering the northeast quadrant of the otherwise snowy island. It also shows the remains of the 2005 lava delta.

Image courtesy Matt Patrick, Michigan Tech

Instrument: 

Terra - ASTER