Incandescence is visible at the top of the growing Santiaguito lava dome in Guatemala. Rockfalls of hot material produce a visible trail down its northern flank. The dome began growing in 1922 in a large crater formed on the SW flank of Santa María volcano during a powerful explosive eruption in 1902. Dome growth has been continuous since 1922 and has produced a composite dome over 3 km long. This photo of El Brujo, the westernmost vent, was taken on 12 November 1967.

Photo by Charles Pineo, 1967 (Dartmouth College, courtesy of Dick Stoiber).

This image is made available under the Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0 license terms.

Galleries: Lava Domes

Keywords: lava dome | rockfall | eruption

Santa María