A picture of an ancient lava flow stretching across the desert in New Mexico was taken by an astronauts on the International Space Station. The river of volcanic rock is covered in a dark scar.
The Carrizozo Malpas is a large basaltic lava flow that spans over 130 square miles. It is located near Carrizozo, a city in the Chihuahuan Desert in New Mexico, and is one of the largest lava flows to have formed on Earth in the last 10,000 years.
The eruption that gave birth to the Carrizozo Malpas lasted between 20 and 30 years. The magma slowly trickled out of the ground from the shield volcano, which has since stopped producing. The molten rock was spread out over a large area by the use of insulated lava tubes.
There is a mosaic of four photographs taken on June 30 by an unknown person on the International Space Station. One of the most detailed aerial images of the lava flow has been released by the NASA Earth Observatory.
There are amazing images of Earth from space.
Most of the lava in the image came from a small, 88-foot tall vent located at the north end of the lava field. The vent is located in the middle of a weakness in the Earth's crust called the Capitan lineament.
Light scattering off fissures, collapses and depressions in the volcanic rock causes the frozen lava to look different. The main road and railway go through the northern part of the lava field.
According to Earth Observatory, a number of desert plant species can grow in the frozen magma of the ancient lava field.
It was originally published on Live Science
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