Despite a slowdown in activity, Chatén Volcano in southern Chile remains active and hazardous. SERNAGEOMIN (the Chilean National Service of Geology and Mining) reported that growth continued on the western section of the lava dome during the first two weeks in March. The Buenos Ares Volcanic Ash Advisory Center reported two volcanic plumes in March, with ash drifting 20 kilometers (10 miles) to the southwest of Chatén on the 29th.
SERNAGEOMIN maintains a red alert at Chaitén, primarily due to the threat of dome collapse or flows of volcanic debris during heavy rain. The valley of the Río Rayas, on the right side of this image, shows the effects of multiple debris flows. Brown ash and pumice, washed down from the steep hillsides, fill the floodplain.
This natural-color image was acquired by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) aboard NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite.
References & Resources
- Global Volcanism Program. (2010, March 30). Chaitén Weekly Reports. Accessed April 6, 2010.
- SERNAGEOMIN. (2010, March 17). Informa Acerca del Volcán Chaitén. Accessed April 6, 2010.
NASA image by Robert Simmon, using ALI data from the EO-1 team. Caption by Robert Simmon.
