Volcano Portraits.

  Hi gang.  This evening I'll be sharing a few volcano photographs with you.  Seeing a volcano in person was always a bucket list item for me, and I never thought it'd actually happen before Kylene turned me on to traveling around 9 years ago. Today, I'm fortunate enough to say I've put a massive check mark next to that item.  We have seen several volcanoes now, and this first one is probably my favorite:

The Arenal Volcano.

  Here is the Arenal Volcano of La Fortuna, Costa Rica.  What I love most about the Arenal here, is that it's such a textbook looking volcano.  It seriously looks like what a toddler would draw if you asked them to draw a volcano.  It's massive, standing some 5,500 feet tall, poking up from a tropical rainforest.  I almost expected to see pterodactyls flying around the summit.

  Here's the view from the rear side of the volcano.  I included this photo to show the real icing on the cake:  the little puff of smoke/steam coming from it's crater. You can't get much more stereotypical "volcano" than that!

Saxhöll Crater

  Here we have the Saxhöll Crater, which is an extinct volcano that is part of the massive Snæfellsjökull stratovolcano... which was the volcano used in Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth".  Saxhöll has been inactive for a long time now, but I do believe it is responsible for all of the sprawling lava flows in the area.

  Here is a panoramic photo taken at the top edge of Saxhöll's crater rim.  This certainly wasn't the largest volcano on this list, but it was kind of nice.  Being that it's a relative little guy, we were able to climb the 100 or so feet to it's summit pretty quickly.  It's like a little baby volcano!

Ubehebe Crater

   Here is the Ubehebe crater in Death Valley National Park. This one was actually caused by a hydrovolcanic eruption, unlike the others.  Meaning it was a burst of geothermal steam that left this crater in the ground.  It's estimated to have occurred between 2,000 and 7,000 years ago.  Still, the landmark that remains is an impressive one.  It's nearly 700 feet deep and a half-mile across.  

Sete Cidades Massif

  Here's a panorama of the volcanic features of the Sete Cidades Massif stratovolcano complex in western Sao Miguel of the Azores archipelago.  This is an active volcano, indeed.  The over all caldera encompasses everything you see in this photograph.  The ouster wall is the ridge way back in the distant background.  Since the original volcano formed back in prehistoric times, there has been many eruptions and events within the overall caldera.  In the last 5,000 years alone, there has been 17 eruptions, creating features like the central crater in the photo.  The last eruption that took place was around 500 A.D.

   Thanks for reading! I post a nature/travel-themed blog every day. Please upvote if you enjoyed it and be sure to follow me @customnature so you'll never miss one!  See you next time.  - Adam

***These daily blogs showcase the natural world.  It is all original content using photos, stories, and experiences from my own travels.***