May 16, 2025 — Spatter-fed flows from north vent at Kīlauea volcano

During the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption, not all spatter in the lava fountain falls as solid tephra outside Halemaʻumaʻu crater; instead, some remains molten and feeds lava flows on the flanks of the eruptive vents. In this image captured on Friday, May 16, two spatter-fed flows can be seen descending the north side of the north vent. The one to the upper left is a smoother pāhoehoe flow and the one to the lower right is a rougher ʻaʻā flow, both of which would be more viscous than most of the lava that has been gushing out of the vents during this eruption. USGS photo by M. Zoeller.