The flight from Port Vila to Tanna
Back at Port Vila Airport
along the southwestern coast of Efate Island
Erromango Island
Erromango Island
Erromango Island
Erromango Island
Tanna Island
Landing at Whitegrass Airport on Tanna
Bob, Rosaly, Jani, me, and Ralph and the Twin Otter that brought us to Tanna
The trip across Tanna...
map of Tanna: the airport is #6 and the bungalow we stayed at is #19
first view of Yasur volcano smoking in the distance :)
Yasur crater
Ralph with Yasur in the background
from the plain at the foot of Yasur
Zibi & Ralph in front of Yasur :)
interesting deposit on the slopes, possibly case-hardening of the volcanic ash
a river cutting through the volcanic deposits
looking up the flanks of Yasur
ripples, and using the blackberry case to pick up magnetite
Ralph and a volcanic bomb
view of the volcano behind a stage where traditional dances are performed
the volcano provides quite a dramatic and dynamic backdrop for the dancers
some of the dancers after the performance
enjoying fresh coconut juice at the treehouse we stayed in
...and up to Yasur crater!
Yasur crater!
looking along the rim
looking the other direction along the rim
A ridge divides the crater in two.
An eruption sends up an ash cloud; this happened every several minutes or so.
another kite-flying opportunity (thanks to having brought a spare kite)
Rosaly and Ralph with kite
another ash eruption seen from a better vantage point along the rim
This is why the vantage point was better -- good view of the vent in the nearer crater!
This vent threw material out every few seconds. It was about 300 meters away.
a larger ash eruption from the far crater
setting up equipment on the crater rim
Observations spanned wavelengths from the visible to te thermal infrared.
another eruption
Ralph and the volcano :)
Zibi and the volcano :)
glowing bombs thrown up by an eruption in the far crater
From our vantage point it looked like there were at least two vents in the far crater: one with episodic explosive eruptions of ash and bombs (left of center, behind the ridge) and another that constantly emitted glowing gases (right of center).
view of both craters
Explosive eruptions in the far crater typically happened every several minutes.
Eruptions from the near vent typically happened every few seconds.
The eruptions looked even more dramatic as it got dark.
material erupting from all three vents
Yasur's vents as seen by Ralph's near-IR camera
Movies of eruptions at Yasur :)
Movie of eruptions during the afternoon
Movie of eruptions at night