January 7, 2022JPEG
The glow of a volcanic eruption in the Galápagos Islands was captured by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the NOAA-NASA Suomi NPP satellite. The image, acquired by the VIIRS “day-night band” at 1:20 a.m. local time (7:20 UTC) on January 7, 2022, shows lava spewing from Wolf Volcano, on the northern end of Isabela Island. The largest island in the Galápagos archipelago lies roughly 1,100 kilometers (700 miles) off the west coast of Ecuador.
According to the Geophysical Institute in Quito, the volcano began erupting late on January 6, sending incandescent lava flows down the volcano’s flanks and ejecting ash clouds up to about 3,800 meters (12,500 feet). Later on January 7, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired an image (below) of the plume blowing west over the Pacific Ocean.
January 7, 2022JPEG
Wolf is the largest and tallest volcano in the Galápagos Islands. It last erupted in May and June 2015, with an eruption rated 4 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) (range from 0 to 8). One of the volcano’s earlier eruptions, in 1797, was the first historical eruption documented in the Galápagos Islands.
Isabela Island is home to the critically endangered pink land iguana. The isolation of the islands and their location at the confluence of major ocean currents gave rise to unique species, including the land iguana, the giant tortoise, and many varieties of finch. The Galápagos archipelago is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, using VIIRS day-night band data from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership and MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview. Story by Sara E. Pratt.
Incandescent lava erupts from a volcano in the Galápagos Islands.
Image of the Day for January 8, 2022
Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Volcanoes Remote Sensing
View more Images of the Day:
Volcanic activity can be a hazard to life, but also provides a reminder that our dynamic planet is constantly reshaping itself.
Charles Darwin’s book, The Voyage of the Beagle, cast a spotlight on the Galapagos, which he called “a little world within itself.”
Though the explosive and most visible eruptive activity seems to have subsided, lava is still flowing above and below ground at the largest volcano in the Galapagos Islands.
After 33 years of inactivity, Wolf volcano in the Galapagos has reawakened.
Volcan Wolf’s first historical eruption was recorded in 1797, and nine more documented eruptions followed over the next two centuries.
