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Lava ball, Kilauea Volcano, 1983

By Kīlauea
egg-shaped ball of red-hot lava with a blackened crust sitting on a bed of grass
Original Thumbnail Medium

Detailed Description

Accretionary lava ball comes to rest on the grass after rolling off the top of an 'a'a flow in Royal Gardens subdivision on Hawai'i Island's Kilauea Volcano. Accretionary lava balls form as viscous lava is molded around a core of already-soldified lava.

Sources/Usage

Public Domain.

Selected Images of the Pu‘u ‘O‘o–Kupaianaha Eruption, 1983–1997
USGS Digital Data Series DDS-80, 2003