SPACEPHOTOS

Lascar Volcano in the central Andes Mountains of Chile erupted April 20, 1993, sending a large plume of ash into the atmosphere and producing lava flows and ash deposits that required evacuation of nearby villages. This near-vertical photograph, taken May 4, 1993, shows the summit of Lascar (near the center of the western edge) and the ash deposited east of the volcano. Recent pyroclastic flows (light areas) traveled down the northwestern slope of the volcano. Ash covers the conical volcano due east of Lascar and a wide area of the folded ranges in the eastern Andes Mountains. The dust tendrils south and east are resuspended ash whipped up by high winds over the Andes and carried eastward over the agricultural areas of eastern South America. The irregular whitish features are playas (dry lakebeds) that are scattered throughout the drier areas of the Andes Mountains.