Giant 'scar' on Earth's surface shown from space

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took a stunning photo of an ancient stream.

lava that stretches across the desert in New Mexico. From above, the frozen river of volcanic rock looks like a dark scar carved into the surrounding desert, Live Science writes.

Area of ​​basaltic lava flow known asCarrizozo Malpaís is about 337 km² and its length is about 80 km. According to the US Geological Survey, it is located near Carrizozo, a city in the Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico. This is one of the largest lava flows formed on Earth over the last 10,000 years.

Image courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory

The eruption that gave birth to Carrizo Malpais has begunabout 5,000 years ago and lasted from 20 to 30 years. During this time, magma slowly flowed out of the subsurface shield volcano, which has since become inactive. Isolated lava tubes below the surface spread molten rock over an unusually large area, according to the USGS.

The new image is a mosaicfrom four photographs taken on June 30 by an unknown astronaut from the Expedition 67 crew aboard the ISS. The stitched image, which is one of the most detailed aerial photographs of a lava flow ever taken, was published on the NASA Earth Observatory website.

You can view a full size, high resolution image here.

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