Lightning Strikes Inside Enormous Volcanic Ash Cloud (Pics)

I'm simply posting this because it's awesome:


Daily Mail (more pics)

There are few things more beautiful - or terrifying - than the menacing flash of lightning bolts within a volcanic ash cloud.

The latest picture, captured by an amateur photographer as the Colima volcano in Mexico spews out a plume of ash and lava, reveals the raw power of a volcanic eruption.

Hernando Rivera Cervantes took the pictures as local authorities warned those living around the volcano, which is also known as the Fire volcano, to prepare for a possible evacuation.

Mr. Cervantes spent eight hours watching the volcano as it threw ash up to 1.8 miles (three kilometres) into the atmosphere before managing to capture the rare picture.

Earlier this month scientists discovered that it is this lightning that is responsible for making the glass spheres that can appear in volcanic rocks. They found that the intense heat generated by the lightning bolts causes the ash to melt into spherules of smooth glass.

A bolt of volcanic lighting can heat the surrounding air to more than 3,000°C, according to the researchers from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Dr. Kimberly Genareau, a volcanologist at the University of Alabama, said their findings suggested that the role lightning plays in volcanic eruptions may be under reported. Writing in the journal Geology, she said: 'We refer to this new morphological classification of ash grains as lightning-induced volcanic spherules (LIVS).

That is undeniably the most metal thing I've seen in years.

S&F \m/

originally posted by: Skadi_the_Evil_Elf
That is undeniably the most metal thing I've seen in years.

S&F \m/

I feel like this should be the cover art for some 80's metal band. Definitely heavy metal.

Awesome...the only thing cooler would be SHARKCANO!

Um ... why does the lava flow suddenly 'go out'.

The lava flow on the right is there in the first pic and then vanishes in the second and third pic.

Very strange, almost looks like photoshop work.

P

originally posted by: pheonix358

Um ... why does the lava flow suddenly 'go out'.

The lava flow on the right is there in the first pick and then vanishes in the second and third pick.

Very strange, almost looks like photoshop work.

P

Good catch. But look at the stars in the background. The pictures in the GIF are spaced further apart in time. The exposure appears to be progressively longer as well, as the sequence gets brighter.

I'm not a photographer or a volcanologist, but my guess is either the lava cooled, got blow away by the exploding mountain, was diverted down the other side of the mountain, or was hidden by the brighter/longer exposure (I don't know what the technical photography term is). Or maybe the sun is coming up.

Photoshop or not, it is begging to be used as the cover for the next big Eurometal band.

ETA: Or landslide. It looks like the force of the eruption sent a (pyroclastic flow?) plume of dirt down the mountain on top of where we see the lava. Maybe.

a reply to: NthOther

The first picture went straight to my desktop.

I'm a freak for all things lightening!

S&F

a reply to: dezertdog

Here's some Lightening For Ya! Just save it and upload to your account here.

originally posted by: SyxPak
a reply to: dezertdog

Here's some Lightening For Ya! Just save it and upload to your account here.

Cheers, many thanks!

originally posted by: dezertdog
a reply to: NthOther

The first picture went straight to my desktop.

I'm a freak for all things lightening!

S&F

Including how to spell it?

haha jk... I'm like you, I love looking at lightning photography, and absolutely love sitting outside and watching lightning storms

I love it when this happens, a combination of my two favourite things!

Mother Nature is amazing.

a reply to: dezertdog

Hey No Prob! Glad To Help!! Late, Syx.

Ummmm BADA$$! Great thread and thanks for sharing. Gotta love mother nature!