Lava and Snow on Klyuchevskaya Volcano

Lava and Snow on Klyuchevskaya Volcano

Half veiled in darkness by the long shadows of winter, Russia’s Klyuchevskaya volcano sends a plume of ash and steam over the snow-bound landscape. Located on the geologically active Kamchatka Peninsula in far eastern Russia, Klyuchevskaya is the region’s highest and most active volcano. Its current eruptive period started in August 2009. The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite acquired this image on January 8, 2011. The sharp, triangular shadow west of Klyuchevskaya is probably being cast by Kamen, a towering, steep-sided volcano that is just south of Klyuchevskaya.

NASA Earth Observatory image created by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using data from the NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. Caption by Holli Riebeek.

References & Resources

  • Global Volcanism Program. Kamen Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Accessed January 14, 2011.
  • Global Volcanism Program. Kliuchevskoi. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Accessed January 14, 2011.