Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes Landscape

This landscape forms splendid scenery in North America and is named after a valley that contains numerous fumaroles that emit plumes. The valley is located near the Katmai Volcano in the southwestern Alaskan Peninsula in the United States. It covers an area of 145 km²and is within the circum-Pacific volcanic belt. The volcanoes are active and generate frequent earthquakes. On June 6, 1912, Katmai Volcano erupted violently. Its top was blown off and collapsed, forming a crater that is 4.8 km long and 3.2 km wide and causing the formation of a new volcano, the Novarupta Volcano, 10 km away. During the eruption, large amounts of materials soared into the sky, and the surrounding valleys were covered with up to 200 m of volcanic ash. All of the fauna and flora were incinerated by the heat. Tens of thousands of fumaroles and smoke plumes emitted large amounts of hot gas. Some of the plumes reached a height of 350 m, forming a thick layer of smoke that, when illuminated by sunlight,...