The
Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, located in
Katmai National Park and Preserve, Southwest
Alaska. This
Valley is very well known for being one of the most active volcanic regions in the world. Previous Major eruptions have deposited ash in the Katmai area at least 10 times during the past 7,000 years; many smaller eruptions have also occurred.
Nearby Volcano's include Mount Megeik, Novarupta, Trident Volcano, Mount Katmai, Snowy Mountain, Mount Denison, and the Kukak Volcano.
The Valley is most well known for the 1912 eruption of Novarupta. Beginning on June 5th, 1912 at 1pm, Novarupta exploded in the largest volcanic eruption anywhere in the world in the 20th century. For 60 hours, it spewed 250,000 cubic meters of bubble-free magma, resulting in a total of 30 cubic kilometers of pumice and ash. This was about 30 times the volume erupted by Mount St Helens in 1980.
A sheet of ash, in some places 660ft deep, still fills the Valley. The Valley was named by Robert Griggs, after the fumaroles that persisted for many years following the eruption. Griggs explored the aftermath of the eruption in 1916. Later, in 1918, Katmai National Park and Preserve was formed to protect the area.
Later that century, the world would later witness another spectacle as Trident Volcano erupted between 1953 and the mid 1960's.
Sources:
www.alaska.com
http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~meltzner/alaska98/