Andean Volcanoes and Inca Shrines

Along the western edge of South America, the Andes Mountains encompass one of the largest concentrations of volcanoes on Earth. Many of these volcanoes are active, and in the historical record of just the past few centuries, eruptions have devastated villages, contaminated rivers and streams, and killed many people and animals. Today, active volcanoes threaten…

Largest explosive eruptions, from 1900 to 1500 AD.

After the recent developments of Iwo-Jima volcano, I’ve grown interested in whether submarine calderas are capable, or not, of producing substantial stratospheric sulfur injections, also in the effects and frequency of these injections, and eventually, as one thing led to another, in the identity of the eruptions behind them. Large volcanic explosions emit vast amounts…

The winter of Huaynaputina

The mountain isn’t there. In its place, an explorer will find a double crater in the ground, several kilometers across, with thick ash on one side and an open side into a majestic river valley on the other. The debris is evidence of a violent past but it gives little hint of what was there…