GeoPicture of the week: Volcano in the sunset

This is Volcán Puyehue, in Chile. It is a stratovolcano – a volcano built from many layers of superimposed lava. The volcanic complex has shaped the local landscape and produced a huge variety of volcanic landforms and products over the last 300,000 years. Cinder cones, lava domes, calderas and craters can be found in the area apart from the widest variety of volcanic rocks in all the Southern Zone.

It’s one of the most spectacular volcanoes, with eruptions sometimes generating massive thunderstorms in the area.