Although the mainstream media seems to have lost interest in the Chaiten eruption beyond the "human interest" (or should I say "salmon interest") aspect of the eruption, there is still a lot going on at the volcano. The SERNAGEOMIN recently released this excellent photo of the erupting caldera:
What is pretty clear here is thank a new rhyolite dome is erupting on top of the old dome. (On a side note, when I was visiting the Smithsonian last week, we were all lamenting the fact that no one has come out and said what composition this lava is? I'm 99% convinced it is rhyolite, e.g., high silica, lava, but I haven't seen an official determination so far EDIT 5/27: Thanks to one of my readers, Hawkeye, for pointing out that the SERNA report I link to above lists the composition as 73-75 wt% silica, a rhyolite). From the looks of ...
