At the Masaya volcano south of Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, scientists bask in front of oozing lava with their cameras perched as they film the bubbling volcano. The chaotic activity deep beneath the earth’s crust contrasts the soft orange glow that washes over the rugged 900-foot walls of the caldera.
The footage, taken by geoscientist Wilfried Strauch, the Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies, and the Nicaraguan government, shows the recent short-lived lava lakes that have formed in the Masaya volcano’s main crater. In slow-motion, you can watch the bright orange lakes bubble and boil with steaming molten lava, and at the one-minute mark you can see lava burst up-close.
It’s said that when the volcano was first discovered, Spanish conquistadors were so entranced by the beautiful lava lakes that they tried to take the molten “gold.” The volcano is also known for having large eruptions like the sudden explosion in 2001 that caused small fires, damaged cars, and left two visitors injured.
Kilauea Volcano
In this clip of the Kilauea volcano near Kalapana, Hawaii, you can see the power and violence of volcanoes. The scene is a primordial landscape akin to those of when the earth was born. The three-minute, slow-motion video shows a diverse array of volcanic activity from geysers of lava, hot plumes, volcanic cloud vortexes, and even lightning.
The scientists at the Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes at the University of Hawaii, Hilo explain that the lightning (at the 2:30-mark) in eruption columns is caused by “small particles of volcanic material colliding with one another at high speeds, and these collisions can result in separation of charges in the volcanic cloud that result in lightning.”
Lightning is not often seen among Hawaii volcanoes, but in July 2008 an ocean swell helped generate an especially large plume at Kilauea volcano that caused the strikes.