The northern part of Saudi Arabia's largest lava field, 20,000 km² Harrat Rahat, is seen in this NASA International Space Station image (N to the top left). Harrat Rahat extends for 300 km S of the city of Madinah (Medina), the light-colored area at the top-center. Although basaltic scoria cones are more common, small shield volcanoes and lava domes are also present. The most well-known eruption took place in 1256 CE, when the large dark-colored flow seen extending to the upper right traveled 23 km to within 4 km of Madinah.

NASA International Space Station image ISS001-344-27, 2001 (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/).

This image is made available as a Public Domain Work, but proper attribution is appreciated.

Galleries: Volcanic Fields

Keywords: volcanic field | lava flow | remote sensing

Harrat Rahat