Thursday, 16 February 2012

El Hierro eruption - update

Four months after it began, the underwater volcanic eruption off El Hierro Island (Canaries) persists. This natural-colour satellite image, collected on February 10th, 2012, shows the site of the eruption, near the fishing village of La Restinga. Bright aquamarine water indicates high concentrations of volcanic material. Immediately above the vent, a patch of brown water resembles a turbulent hot tub and indicates when and where the eruption is strongest.   The volcano's summit is now only 120 metres beneath the ocean surface - 10 metres higher than it was in mid-January. The height of the erupting cone is about 210 metres above the former ocean bottom, with a total volume over 145 million cubic meters of new material.

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