The massive Piton de la Fournaise on the island of Réunion is one of the world's most active volcanoes. It is seen here in 1977 with a black lava flow descending the outer NE flank to the sea. The unvegetated summit (top left) was constructed within an 8-km-wide caldera that is breached to the sea. Its sloping N rim is marked by the diagonal vegetation line at the left. More than 150 eruptions have occurred since the 17th century, mostly from vents within the caldera.

Copyrighted photo by Katia and Maurice Krafft, 1977 (published in SEAN Bulletin, 1977).

Copyrighted image used with permission. All Rights Reserved. Contact photographer for any usage requests.

Galleries: Lava Flows | Shield Volcanoes

Keywords: eruption | shield volcano | lava flow

Piton de la Fournaise