A crater "walled" by fumaroles and plumes, small mud volcanoes, intimidating a crater with a lake of lava, another almost "touching the sky" and wrapped in eternal snows. Even in this long list, there are craters that are a little sleepy paradise, hot springs, crystal clear lakes, or even one that is a haven for African wildlife.

Image Indrik Myneur

We travel 12 craters that become hard to imagine, to prove that even in the same type of geological phenomenon, nature can surprise us with a unique diversity:

1. The crater of the volcano Gorely

South of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, is the Gorely volcano crater and eruptive phase and increasing activity. In fact, a few weeks ago has disappeared turquoise lake we see in the photos, which are earlier. The whole phenomenon, indicating the existence of an eruption. Currently, we only see a vent field.


Einar Fredriksen

Indrik myneur

Einar Fredriksen

Einar Fredriksen

Indrik myneur

2. The mud volcanoes of Azerbaijan

There are only 700 mud volcanoes in the world, and an estimated 300 are in the Gobustan State Reserve, southwest of Baku near the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan. correspond generally to gas fumes that form a cone and crater of no great height from which emanates a hydrated clay usually forms sparkling lakes.

Image Nick Taylo

Adam Harvey

Image L Gnome

Bruno Girin

Mark Ireland

Nicolai Bangsgaard

Nick Taylor

3. A lake of fire. (Erta Ale, Ethiopia)

Located in the inhospitable region of the Afar Depression in northeastern Ethiopia, an unusual source of heat and light emerges from the bowels of the Earth: the lava lake of Erta Ale volcano.

filippo_jean

Indrik myneur

filippo_jean

Indrik myneur


4. A crater that touches the sky (Cotopaxi, Ecuador)

Cotopaxi is the name of one of the highest active volcanoes in the world, in Ecuador. The crater of the volcano, 5897 meters high, is usually above a blanket of clouds, like touching the sky, offering a stunning panorama:

Image jarikir

Although Cotopaxi is the highest active volcano in the world, you are probably among the most impressive volcanoes in height. The highest active volcano in the world is the Ojos del Salado, located on the border between Chile and Argentina. However, the Ojos del Salado, a crater has not as definite as the volcano Cotopaxi. It is located 50 kilometers south of Quito and his last activity was recorded in 1942.

Image Harry R

Image hypertypos

Image francisbonte
Depending on the source, the word Cotopaxi means "Throat of Fire". The crater of the volcano has an oval shape and its width varies between 800 and 600 meters with a depth of 200 meters:

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Image ironmanixs

The volcano Cotopaxi has an almost symmetrical cone shape. The view from the summit of Cotopaxi, we are surprised with the volcanic activity of any of its neighbors, as the volcano Tungurahua, which launches in February 2008 ash and incandescent rocks.

Image josimon


The Cotopaxi has been illegally active in the last 500 years, with numerous eruptions that have affected the nearby valleys. Since 1738 fifty eruptions occurred. Climbing the volcano is of course trivial task. The ascent of Cotopaxi is relatively popular, and the starting point for doing so, is a shelter located at 4700 meters on the north side. You can also mountain bike excursions in the surroundings of the volcano. The Cotopaxi, with its iconic form and image visible from remote corners of the region, is a symbol of Ecuador, a country used to deal with heights and extremes.

5. The craters that change color

In the Kelimutu volcano on the island of Flores, Indonesia, there are three craters, each with a different key lake. The lakes have dramatically different colors, a curiosity considering that is a few meters of distance and separation. While one of the lakes is turquoise, the other is brown and the last of a blue so dark that it almost seems black. But all this must be added that the lakes have changed color over the years, because of the geological activity of the volcano Kelimutu.


NeilsPhotography

Gabriel Hsia

Rosino

java tourism


6. The idyllic crater in Japan.

Masyuko The lake is formed in a volcanic crater in the Akan National Park in Hokkaido, Japan. It is surrounded by steep walls up to 200 meters high, and is one of the deepest in Japan, and one of the clearest in the world. Although it is believed that transparency has varied in recent years, some time, was based on measurements, the most transparent lake in the world, beating the Lake Baikal.

jetalone

Hajime Nakano

Hajime Nakano


7. The volcano lava flows with constant (Pacaya, Guatemala)

The Pacaya volcano remains in eruptive activity since 1965 in a uninterrupted. In fact, the most active volcano in Central America, at least in the last five centuries, where about 23 eruptions occurred. Since 2006, the eruption has been intensified to create multiple streams of lava flowing from its slopes, attracting thousands of tourists.

Image alq666

Image Bruno Girin

Image JoePhoto

Image Bruno Girin

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8. The volcano expelling lava that turns white in Tanzania

Inside the Great Rift Valley, there are numerous geological curiosities. Among them, the volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai, a volcano of "washed white", unique in the world for its ejecting lava "flows like water", with temperatures of "only" 590 ° C (which in the temperature range Volcanic lava is quite "cold". The beauty of the volcano is not only given by its particular lava flow that takes on a target in its gullies and crevices, but also for its spectacular cone of 1,600 m from its base in the middle of a plain where grazing live Masai.

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Image Cessna206

9. Gaps in the Nevado de Toluca, Mexico.

In the crater of an extinct volcano in the state of Mexico, and 4690 m in the middle of a bleak landscape, enduring two freshwater lagoons separated by a lava dome. It is located 22 kilometers from Toluca.

Eneas de Troya

Eneas de Troya

Toxickore

nik_aichhorn

10. The crater idyllic United States.

Water covers the cavity of a volcanic caldera formed after the massive eruption 6,850 years ago ... He is known simply as Crater Lake (in English Crater Lake), situated in the Lake National Park Crater in the state Oregon, USA. Although famous for the beauty of its surroundings and its deep blue water and clear, the minimal chances of an eruption make it a paradise asleep

Andrew Smith

Alaskan Dude


11. The idyllic Inferno Crater (New Zealand)

in the Waimangu Valley is known as the Inferno Crater, an incredible turquoise crater with steam, which alerts the name of the unreliability of the water:

Angela Bethell

Angela Bethell


12. Eden in a crater (Ngorongoro, Tanzania)

Forget the idea that a crater is an inhospitable place. The Ngorongoro Crater is within the fault line of the Great Rift Valley. Located some 180 kilometers from Arusha, Tanzania volcanic land, Ngorongoro crater is now a protected area close to Serengeti National Park, recognized as World Heritage by an amazing combination of natural wealth in living well ancient cultures like the Masai ethnic group.


William Warby

Stig Nygaard

Harsh

Vince Smith