This volcanic field is a planetary analog—a place where scientists and engineers can test their instruments and techniques before sending them off to otherworldly environments.
Published Sep 19, 2017
Part of the back-arc volcanism of the Andes, this complex landscape formed over 300,000 years.
Published Dec 30, 2012
An increase in earthquakes under Bezymianny Volcano signaled an impending explosive eruption.
Published Mar 9, 2012
The Pinacates region of Mexico’s Sonoran Desert is one of the most unique and striking landscapes in North America. Located just a few miles south of the Mexico-Arizona border, this volcanic field originated with the rifting of the Gulf of California millions of years ago, but the features seen today (volcanic peaks, lava flows, cinder cones and collapsed craters) formed in the late Pleistocene period (2 million to 11,000 years ago). The volcanic range is surrounded by one of North America’s largest dune fields, Gran Desierto. Early in May 2004, the new Space Station crew (ISS-9) obtained high-resolution images of the Pinacates, allowing for detailed observations of the surface features. One example is a large volcanic crater (see box, and detail below) called Crater Elegante which is one of the most prominent and interesting features of the Pinacates.
Published Jun 8, 2004
The landscape in the central Andes Mountains, near the border between Chile and Argentina, is dominated by volcanoes and associated landforms.
Published Sep 6, 2010
In northwestern Saudi Arabia lies a field of volcanic lava that contains some 50 cones from the past 10,000 years.
Published Jan 5, 2011
Tolbachik Volcano is not a single peak, but a complex of volcanic features superimposed on one another.
Published Apr 14, 2013
Acquired June 19, 2011, this natural-color image shows an ash plume from Nabro Volcano extending more than 60 kilometers into Ethiopia.
Published Jun 20, 2011
A team of NASA scientists headed to Holuhraun because the volcano has geologic cousins on Mars.
Published Oct 9, 2018
Ash and steam stream from a remote Japanese island.
Published Jul 16, 2014
The western half of the Arabian Peninsula contains not only large expanses of sand and gravel, but extensive lava fields known as haraat. One such field is the 14,000-square-kilometer Harrat Khaybar, located approximately 137 kilometers to the northeast of the city of Al Madinah (Medina). The volcanic field was formed by eruptions along a 100-kilometer, north-south vent system over the past 5 million years. The most recent recorded eruption took place between 600–700 AD.
Published Apr 14, 2008
The approximately 4-kilometer-wide Dendi Caldera includes some of this silica-rich volcanic rock: the rim of the caldera, visible in this astronaut photograph, is mostly made of poorly consolidated ash erupted during the Tertiary Period (approximately 65–2 million years ago).
Published Mar 31, 2008
