1. S tromboli , Italy - November 2007 . A bright yellow blob of viscous lava appears in the NE vent, forms a bubble and explodes. After the initial explosion, several powerful jets of spatter-rich erupt from the opened vent. (Song : Lava by Alkistis Protopsalti & Haris Alexiou) Click to continue

2. A volcano is a geological landform usually generated by the eruption through a vent in a planet's surface of magma, molten rock welling up from the planet's interior. Volcanoes of various types are found on other planets and their moons as well as on earth. Roughly defined, a volcano consists of a magma chamber, pipes and vents. The magma chamber is where magma from deep within the planet pools, while pipes are channels that lead to surface vents, openings in the volcano's surface through which lava is ejected during an eruption. North - western view of Mt. Fuji (Japan) over Lake Shoji which formed by damming the old lake with the Aokigahara lava flows erupted in 864 .

3. Though the common perception of a volcano as a mountain spewing lava and poisonous gases from a crater in its top is not wrong per se, the features of volcanoes are much more complicated and vary from volcano to volcano depending on a number of factors. Some volcanoes even have rugged peaks formed by lava domes rather than a summit crater, whereas yet others present landscape features such as massive plateaus. Vents that issue volcanic material (lava, which is what magma is called once it has broken the surface, and ash) and gases (mainly steam and magmatic gases) can be located anywhere on the landform. S antorini , Greece - View from Mikri Kameni across the caldera towards the Skaros shield. The houses of Imerovigli are seen on top of the caldera rim. Please, vote for Santorini as one of the new 7 wonders of Nature here! )

4. Volcanoes around the world … ok some of them… K liuchevskoi - Kamchatka peninsula S emeru - I ndonesia P opocatepetl - Mexico M ayon - P hilippines

5. Lava Photos Lava on road H ot spatter cone Lava river Lava flow Lava exploding Lava pooling

6. Santorini – Greece Oia & the Caldera Volcano - Hot springs Volcano - Hot springs Agios Nikolaos – Palea Kameni Nea Kameni - 1926 Crater in Palea Kameni Crater in Nea Kameni Please, vote for Santorini as one of the new 7 wonders of Nature here! )

7. Nisyros – Greece Organge lychen and Stefanos crater in the background View onto the Stefanos crater and Profitis Ilias mountain The largest of the Polyvotis craters. View into the opposite direction towards Stefanos crater.

8. Volcan Etna - Sicily, Italy

9. Volcan Etna - Sicily, Italy (May 2008…) Etna e rupting S t ro mbolian eruption from the vent and lights of Giarre, Tsaormina and Calabria at night. E tna eruption - May 2008 E tna eruption - May 2008

10. Stromboli, Italy Stromboli village and the volcano 5 July 2006 rain of bombs - eruptions from individual vents Eruption from the craters of Stromboli Impressions at dawn. On th is picture, an ash eruption from the NW crater in the background takes place

11. Stromboli, Italy (…continue) Series of a jet-like spatter fountain from the NE central crater vent.

12. Mount V esuvius – Naples , Italy Vesuvius erupts in 1944 Vesuvius erupts in 1944 Crater on Mount. Vesuvius Pompeii and Mt.Vesuvius by morning

13. Kelud volcano – East Java - Indonesia Wide-angle view of Kelu d 's lava dome inside the crater. Muddy brown color of the remnant of the lake. F ace to face with the lava dome F ace to face with the lava dome

14. Chaitin volcano, Chilie May 6,2008 after 9 . 000 years of silence, Chile's Chaitin volcano is erupting with lava, ash and lightning Seen from space on May 3, the plume from the Chaitin volcano drifts across the Andes mountains, Chile's eastern border, and the width of Argentina. Ash covers the Yelcho River near Chaitén, Chile, on May 4, 2008, after an eruption of the Chaitén volcano. Photographed on May 4 from the evacuated town of Chaitin, Chile's Chaitin volcano has sent ash as high as 12 miles (19 kilometers) into the sky

15. Mount. St.Hellens, Washington State Volcano in eruption Mt St.Helens Washington State 3,000 ft (1 km) steam plume on May 19, 1982

16. Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii Lava Arch H ot lava touches the cold ocean C inder cone from Pu'u'O'o eruption of Mount Kilauea L ava flowing from high levels

17. Fiji volcano, Japan The hoei crater from which the latest eruption occureed in 1707 The summit crater of Fuji Volcano.

18. The End . Thank you !