Aerial view of a flow being erupted

Aerial view of a flow being erupted from one of the rootless shields active above the main lava tube downslope form Pu`u `O`o. Width of view is 75-100 meters. The shiny crust indicates that it is very hot. A rootless shield is a pile of lava flows built over a lava tube rather than over a conduit feeding magma from within the earth. Rootless shields along the tube system commonly have a flat top containing a shallow lava pond.