This close-up view of the lava lake surface on the south side of th...

This close-up view of the lava lake surface on the south side of the lake shows a typical spreading zone. In this image, the crustal plates on both sides of the incandescent line are migrating to the south (toward the lower left corner of the photo), but the crust on the left side is moving more rapidly to the south than the crust on the right. As the semi-solid crust pulls apart, molten lava upwells between the two plates to create new crust.