Karthala Volcano emitted a plume of ash and/or steam on May 29, 2006. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) flying onboard NASA’s Terra satellite took this picture the same day. In this image, the translucent gray plume blows westward away from the summit. A spray of bright white clouds appears south of the plume.
Karthala Volcano is a shield volcano, deriving its name from a warrior’s shield, with gentle slopes. Together with another shield volcano to its north, Karthala forms Grand Comore Island, or Ngazidja Island off the east coast of Africa. Since the 19th century, Karthala has erupted more then 20 times, some eruptions producing lava flows that reached the sea.
NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained from the Goddard Earth Sciences DAAC.
