Lava Flows and Impact
While activity prevails at the top, lava flows also occur on other parts of the mountain. Significantly, from January 2017 to March 2020, crack eruptions in the southeast caldera produced a large volume of basaltic lava that poured down the volcanos flanks. The flows covered around 30 square kilometers (12 square miles), a few of which shows up in this image reaching the northeast and southwest.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat information from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Satellite picture of Erta Ale volcano in Ethiopia acquired on November 27, 2023, by the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8
Erta Ale, in the East African Rift, is Ethiopias most active volcano.
The heat is constantly on at Erta Ale volcano in Ethiopia. In East Africas Danakil (or Afar) Depression, three tectonic plates are pulling apart from each other, enabling lava to increase to the surface and feed several active volcanoes. Erta Ale lies in this rift zone and is Ethiopias most active volcano.
Notable Features of Erta Ale
The volcano is called the “smoking mountain” and the “entrance to hell” in the Afar language. A lava lake in its top crater, shown in the inset (above), has actually roiled since a minimum of 1967 and potentially since 1906. The image was gotten by Landsat 8s OLI (Operational Land Imager) on November 27, 2023, and includes an infrared signal (red) produced by the heat of molten rock.
Recent Volcanic Activity
In a current wave of activity, satellites identified thermal abnormalities in the summit crater beginning in mid-September 2023. According to reports from the Global Volcanism Program, abnormalities observed over the taking place weeks likely corresponded to eruptions from spatter cones and little lava streams within the crater. Much of researchers understanding of Erta Ales volcanism comes from satellite observations because the location is mostly inaccessible and remote for field research study.
The heat is always on at Erta Ale volcano in Ethiopia. Erta Ale is located in this rift zone and is Ethiopias most active volcano.
Notably, from January 2017 to March 2020, fissure eruptions in the southeast caldera produced a large volume of basaltic lava that poured down the volcanos flanks.
By Lindsey Doermann, NASA Earth Observatory
December 5, 2023