In the Lava Mountains | Hacker News Reader

In the Lava Mountains

englishrussia.com

98 pointsrachbelaid14 comments

More information and a less fluffy title would have been welcome. I'm just as interested in impressive photos of volcanic activity when it doesn't pretend to have something to do with Tolkien's (admittedly very good) books.

A search for volcanoes in Russia turned up this article, which has more information:

http://rt.com/news/volcano-erupts-russia-kamchatka-810

"Torrents of lava are coming down the magnificent slopes of Plosky Tolbachik, one of the biggest volcanoes in Russia’s Far East region. The volcano 'woke up' in November last year - after more than thirty-five years of being dormant. ..."

A short video of the eruption can be found here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/9908...

Nit-pick: The "real" "Mordor on earth" is Mt. Tongariro on the north island of New Zealand. The 3-4 day trail around Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ngauruhoe is one of New Zealand's spectacular "Great Walks." If you have the opportunity to visit New Zealand, you should take the time for at least one of these walks.

http://www.tongarirocrossing.org.nz/the-lord-of-the-rings.ht...

Been there, did (some of) that, it really is an amazing hike.

The crossing itself is done in a day and photos don't do it justice. Looked a bit ho-hum to me until I was there.

Probably only one tiring bit (Devil's Staircase?) then the rest is pretty straightforward.

A full set of photos is available here [1]. It looks to be the Tolbachik complex in the Far East of Russia.

http://lusika33.livejournal.com/36315.html.

Really nice to be able to get at the full-sized (albeit watermarked) versions. http://lusika33.livejournal.com/ has all of the lava albums and much more!

Can anyone fill in the geology of this? Geographically, I'd expect an Andes-like volcano from the subduction of the pacific plate, but they're talking about rivers of basalt.

Sorry for the initial fluffy title ;) I just found the initial title a bit lame, but I mainly posted it on HN because it reminded me some Mordor scenes...

I found this pictures amazing and it's very impressive how close the guy stand from the lava.. I guess that the air is pretty cold but I m surprise how close the guy stand from the lava.

For the one who know and remind Haroun Tazieff (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haroun_Tazieff), he was always very well protected in his documentaries

These photos are breathtaking -- the sort of thing that makes one feel small in a colossal and complex world. It is the landscape of Milton and Dante come to life, beautiful and terrifying, ferocious and serene.

But, Dude. Really? Standing on a curved precipice over a river of fire? You are absolutely fucking insane.

Seeing photos like these always serves as a reminder to me of the wonders present on our own planet just waiting to be explored. It really puts this concrete and glass jungle that I call 'home' into perspective. I need a vacation.

Nice pictures, but... It's so much more awesome to view an eruption in person. Especially when the lava fountains are visible from 25+ miles away. Standing nearby a 1500 foot lava fountain is truly a humbling experience. (Kilauea)

Is this North Dakota after all the fracking?

I seriously thought that this was going to be about the unbreathable air and destroyed environment in and around Norilsk...

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