Satellites spy one of Russia's most active volcanoes melting snow from the inside out

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.

Fresh satellite images have captured one of Russia's most active volcanoes melting snow from the inside out as volcanic heat continues to seep through the frozen landscape of the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Images captured by the Landsat 9 satellite on April 23 show dark channels of ash and volcanic debris cutting through the snowy slopes of Shivelyuch volcano in far eastern Russia.

Shivelyuch (also spelled Shiveluch) is the northernmost active volcano on Kamchatka and one of the most active volcanoes on Earth, according to NASA Earth Observatory. The volcano is known for near-constant activity, with satellites frequently detecting ash deposits, heat signatures and avalanches of hot rock flowing down its slopes.

At the center of the volcano sits a growing lava dome — a mound of thick, slow-moving lava that has been expanding in recent months inside Shivelyuch's horseshoe-shape crater, according to reports from the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) cited by NASA Earth Observatory.

As parts of the unstable dome collapse, they can trigger fast-moving pyroclastic flows made of hot ash, gas and volcanic rock. These flows leave behind thick deposits that can hold heat for months or even years after an eruption.

That lingering heat is visible from space.

In the new satellite images, snow has melted away along several flow channels where fresh volcanic deposits have spread across the volcano's slopes in recent months. Some of the dark scars highlighted in the imagery may still contain heat from Shivelyuch's massive 2023 eruption, which sent huge pyroclastic flows surging across the volcano.

"Shivelyuch is an incredible volcano that has collapsed over and over again," said volcanologist Janine Krippner in a statement released alongside the images by NASA Earth Observatory. "It goes through cycles of collapse but then builds itself up again and again through constant volcanic activity."

"It should really be on a motivational poster," Krippner added.