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After half a century, Puyehue-Cordon Caulle erupts

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    • After half a century, Puyehue-Cordon Caulle erupts
    • After half a century, Puyehue-Cordon Caulle erupts
    • After half a century, Puyehue-Cordon Caulle erupts
    • After half a century, Puyehue-Cordon Caulle erupts
    • After half a century, Puyehue-Cordon Caulle erupts
    • After half a century, Puyehue-Cordon Caulle erupts
    • After half a century, Puyehue-Cordon Caulle erupts
    • After half a century, Puyehue-Cordon Caulle erupts
    • After half a century, Puyehue-Cordon Caulle erupts
    • Chile's Puyehue-Cordon Caulle chain of 2,000 volcanoes had been dormant for a half century - that is, until June 4. That's when the region erupted with rare violence, spewing clouds of ash into the atmosphere and causing air traffic disruptions around the world. NASA's Terra satellite has been tracking the course of the ash and lava eruptions ever since, and the following gallery contains snapshots of this remarkable phenomenon over the last month and a half. This July 8 image observes how shifting winds moved the ash plume toward the northwest (bottom). Sometimes the wind takes the ash over land, other times over water.

      Credit: NASA

    • A thermal infrared image nighttime view of Puyehue-Cord

      Credit: NASA

    • Natural-color image taken June 20 when the ash was reported at an altitude of 27,000 feet (8,200 meters). The location of the eruption site is indicated by a red outline.

      Credit: NASA

    • Volcanic rocks were tossed more than 12 miles from the center of the eruption. This image from June 14 shows pumice floating on a mountain lake east of Puyehue.

      Credit: NASA

    • On June 13, the plume, which had entered the jetstream, was blown eastward and now visible over Australia and New Zealand. The top image shows the ash plume over southern Australia and the Tasman Sea. The lower image offers a view farther east over New Zealand and the South Pacific Ocean.

      Credit: NASA

    • Taken on June 13, this image shows a thick layer of ash on the ground as well as a large plume streaming east from the volcano.

      Credit: NASA

    • Ash rose to an altitude of 23,000 feet on June 11, rising from a fissure 3.7 miles north of Puyehue Volcano. Ash suspended in the water likely accounts for the bright blue color of the high-altitude lakes to the west of the eruption site.

      Credit: NASA

    • By June 6, the ash plume covered 1,000 nautical miles from Chile, over the coast of Argentina, and out into the Atlantic Ocean Following the eruption, the plume reached a maximum altitude of 45,000 feet and remained around 40,000 feet.

      Credit: NASA

    • June 4: the volcano chain erupts.

      Credit: NASA