Picture courtesy of ash-tronauts: Devastating beauty of erupting Alaskan volcano as seen from International Space Station

Belching ash and spewing lava, Pavlof Volcano in Alaska has been erupting for ten days - and Nasa today released this remarkable picture of it, taken by crew on board the International Space Station.
One of the region's most active volcanoes, its latest eruption has forced regional flight cancellations and dusted some nearby communities with ash.
Pavlof released ash plumes as high as 22,000ft (6,700m) over the weekend, with the cloud blowing eastward and the eruption showing no signs of abating, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory.
The lava from its 8,261ft (2,518m) peak has also created huge steam clouds on meeting the mountain's snow.

Belching ash and spewing lava, Pavlof Volcano in Alaska has been erupting since May 13 - and Nasa today released this remarkable picture of it, taken by crew on board the International Space Station

While the ash plume was still too low on Monday to affect commercial airliners flying at least 30,000ft above sea level between Asia and North America, it still interfered with schedules for regional carriers serving rural fishing towns and native villages that lack outside road access.
PenAir, an Anchorage-based company specialising in travel in southwestern Alaska, briefly stopped flights to four destinations to wait for ash to dissipate, said Danny Seybert, the carrier's chief executive. 'We've had about a dozen cancellations due to the volcano,' he said.

 

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PenAir's planes fly at altitudes between 15,000 and 20,000ft - exactly where they could encounter ash, depending on wind direction, according to Seybert.
Among the cancellations were flights in and out of Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, the top-volume seafood port in the United States, he said.

Pavlof (pictured last week) released ash plumes as high as 22,000ft (6,700m) over the weekend, with the cloud blowing eastward and the eruption showing no signs of abating, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory

While the ash plume was still too low on Monday to affect commercial airliners flying at least 30,000ft above sea level between Asia and North America, it still interfered with schedules for regional carriers serving rural fishing towns and native villages that lack outside road access

THERE SHE BLOWS: PAVLOF VOLCANO

Pavlof Volcano is one of several dozen volcanoes that make up the Aleutian Arc.
The arc stretches across the Alaskan Peninsula in the south-west of Alaska to north-eastern Siberia, 3,000km away.
It follows the line where the pacific tectonic plate meets the North American plate.

Seybert said for those flying in the region, flight disruptions are part of doing business.
'It's one of the situations that Mother Nature presents itself along our route structure,' he said.

Ace Air Cargo, also based in Anchorage, cancelled two flights and delayed others, but for the most part, its planes are flying around any ash, said Greg Hawthorne, a company official. The airline is closely monitoring developments, he said.

'We're used to those volcanoes going off in that region,' he said. 'But if the winds are wrong, you don't want to test that pumice.'
Ash plumes could go higher, as Pavlof's eruption could intensify with little warning, the Alaska Volcano Observatory said.
Trace amounts of ash fell overnight on Nelson Lagoon, a tiny Aleut village of 50 residents located 48 miles (77 km) northeast of Pavlof.
The volcano had earlier sprinkled ash on Sand Point, a fishing town of about 1,000 people, when the wind was blowing in a slightly different direction, according to the observatory.

Ash plumes could go higher, as Pavlof's eruption could intensify with little warning, the Alaska Volcano Observatory said

Along with potential aviation hazards, the ash poses possible health risks, said Rick Wessels, a U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist at the observatory.
'It's dangerous for the people downwind of it, because you don't really want to breathe in that fine ash that long,' Wessels said of the eruption taking place on the Alaska Peninsula, 590 miles (950km) southwest of Anchorage.
Pavlof is one of Alaska's most restless volcanoes and had its last major eruption in 2007. The Alaska Volcano Observatory estimates it has erupted about two dozen times between 1901 and 2007.
During the 29-day eruption six years ago, the volcano emitted mud flows and erupting lava, as well as ash clouds up to 18,000ft high.

Pavlof is one of Alaska's most restless volcanoes and had its last major eruption in 2007. The Alaska Volcano Observatory estimates it has erupted about two dozen times between 1901 and 2007

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