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Aerial view looking east across Pu`u `O`o

Detailed Description

Aerial view looking east across Pu`u `O`o. Kona wind blows thick gas plume north from main crater. West Gap pit also is choked with gas just west of main crater. Red is active rock slide at headwall of Puka Nui, a large, complex collapse area in central part of image. The individual pits have not been named, except for Lua Hou, the tiny pit giving off narrow gas plume near right edge of photo. Note the concentric cracks around the larger collapse features. Lava flows in this area cover older spatter and cinder from Pu`u `O`o, which is unstable and slowly spreading, developing pits in the overlying flows. Yellowish slope in middle of photo is part of Pu`u `O`o's cone that is falling apart.

Sources/Usage

Public Domain.