A stunning composite image, made up of three years' worth of satellite photos, shows the ancient lava of Libya's Haruj volcanic field interspersed with patches of golden sand.

In these pictures researchers work on the top of the 4,000ft Kilauea volcano. The shots were taken by local photographer G. Brad Lewis, 56, who said: 'Erupting volcanoes have always fascinated me.

Mount Etna in Sicily, Italy, is an example of a composite volcano. Shield volcanoes do not have such violent eruptions. These volcanoes tend to have gentle slopes and their runnier lava spreads ...