Climbing down the rocky crater of an active volcano and right into the bubbling, red lava inside may seem thrilling, but that is not really a feasible plan. We'd rather stay away from that adventure, however enticing it may seem. But Google Street View has come up with an extraordinary opportunity to help you look down one such volcano—the Marum crater in the Ambrym island in Vanuatu. Vanuatu is an archipelago of 80 tiny islands located over a thousand miles from the coast of Australia.
To bring you this view, Google partnered with trekkers Geoff Mackley and Chris Horsley who climbed down 400 metres into the Marum crater. The explorers, with a Street View Trekker, shot 360 degree images of the crater, their climb down, and the lake of molten lava. According to Google's blog post, the molten lake was approximately the size of two football fields. Within the crater, you can move in multiple directions to catch a detailed look of the rocky terrain, the boiling pot of lava and the sky up above.
Mackley and Horsley also take you through a trekking trail, away from the volcanic crater, through a thick jungle and to the black sand beaches. In the images posted, the team takes you through a walk on the shore covered with volcanic black sand said to have formed by the erosion of lava rocks. All of these visuals allow the user to get immersed in a panoramic 360 degree view of the island and its surroundings. “I hope by putting this place on the map, people will realise what a beautiful world we live in,” stated Horsley in the blog. Besides Marum, the island of Ambrym also hosts another active volcano, Benbow. The island is also home to more than 7,000 people in the village of Endu.
It is for the first time that Street View is going beneath the surface of earth. Google Street View has been providing images featuring historical sites and monuments, natural wonders and wildlife, which also serve as reference resources for study.
