Nature's fireworks
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Nature's fireworks

by Derya Gürer, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

This picture was taken from the crater rim of Mount Yasur on the island of Tanna, Republic of Vanuatu. "Tanna" means "Earth" in Tannese. Mount Yasur (361 m), the world's most accessible active volcano, shows strombolian to vulcanian activity. It owes its existence to the eastward-moving Indo-Australian Plate being subducted under the westward-moving Pacific Plate. The red glow of the volcano was apparently what attracted Captain James Cook to land on the island in 1774.

Finalist in the EGU Photo Competition 2014