Viewing the ash plume from the Shiveluch Volcano

Viewing the ash plume from the Shiveluch Volcano:
Just a few days ago we talked about some of the great volcanoes that can be seen in Google Earth. Almost on cue, the NASA Earth Observatory has released some amazing imagery of the Shiveluch Volcano in Russia.

shiveluch.jpg

The image was captured just three days ago, and clearly shows the ash plume which had already traveled roughly 140 miles from the summit of the volcano.

From their page:

Shiveluch (also spelled Sheveluch) ranks among the biggest and most active volcanoes on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Rising to 3,283 meters (10,771 feet) above sea level, Shiveluch is a stratovolcano composed of alternating layers of hardened lava, compacted ash, and rocks ejected by previous eruptions. The beige-colored expanse of rock on the volcano's southern slopes (visible in both images) is due to an explosive eruption that occurred in 1964. Part of Shiveluch's southern flank collapsed, and the light-colored rock is avalanche debris left by that event.

NASA has released a high resolution jpg of the imagery, and also a KMZ file so that you can view it in Google Earth.

(via EarthObservatory)

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