Pictures: Volcano Ash Smothers Lake, Buildings, Sheep

In the Thick of It

Photograph by Chiwi Giambirtone, Reuters

Divers with the Argentine Navy stand in the ash-choked Limay river in Bariloche on June 16. Argentine authorities have declared a state of emergency for farmers in the area, who are already coping with a long-running drought, according to BBC News.

(Related: "Volcano's Deadly Ash Harming Stranded Animals in Chile [2009].")

Published June 21, 2011

Ashy Eatery

Photograph by Francisco Ramos Mejia, AFP/Getty Images

Workers remove ash from Chile's Puyehue volcano from the roof of a restaurant in the southern Argentine city of Villa La Angostura on June 16. Volcanic eruptions are nothing new to Chile, which is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a geologically active region prone to earthquakes and eruptions.

("Exclusive: Chile Earthquake Aerial Pictures.")

Published June 21, 2011

Steamy River

Photograph by Roberto Candia, AP

Police officers survey the Nilahue River following the eruption of the Puyehue volcano in Los Venados, Chile, on June 9.

Published June 21, 2011

Dyed in the Wool

Photograph by Federico Grosso, AP

Sheep are covered with ash from Chile's Puyehue volcano in southern Argentina's Villa La Angostura on June 16.

(See pictures: "Chile Volcano Hurts Animals, Farms [2008].")

Published June 21, 2011

Going With the Flow

Photograph by Federico Grosso, AP

Argentina's border police and rescue workers remove ash-coated trees from a stream to avoid the blockage of a lake near Villa La Angostura on June 15.

Asleep for decades, Chile's Puyehue volcano began erupting on June 4 and blasted ash more than six miles (ten kilometers) high.

Other volcanoes, though, have launched ash more than 19 miles (30 kilometers) up, Jay Miller, a volcanologist at Texas A&M University, told National Geographic News earlier this month.

Published June 21, 2011

Caved In

Photograph by Francisco Ramos Mejia, AFP/Getty Images

Its roof having collapsed under the weight of Puyehue's volcanic ash, a shed sits crumpled in the grit in Villa Llanquín, Argentina, on June 17.

On that same day the Associated Press reported that ash from Puyehue had fully circled the globe. After 13 days riding air currents, the ash had returned home.

Published June 21, 2011