Monday 28 June 2010

Cinder cones above the clouds

It's easy to forget we work on top of a volcano. Mauna Kea isn't active but is classified as dormant - certainly not an extinct volcano. It last erupted around 4,500 years ago but it will likely erupt again. No one knows when. The cinder cones that litter the summit area and the rest of the mountain bear testimony to a time not long ago when the mountain spat fire.

3 comments:

Keera Ann Fox said...

I love the color scheme in this photo!

Tom said...

Thanks, Keera! I took a couple more shots just the other day but haven't had time to look at them yet. I think they might be better but we'll see!

This is usually a part of the mountain the tourists don't bother to look at since it's away from the sunset, but it often has more interesting views.

Tom

Keera Ann Fox said...

Some of the best pictures are taken when we look the other way. :-)