Lava Lake Within Halema`uma`u Vent

This Quicktime video shows recent activity at the lava lake deep within the Halema‘uma‘u vent cavity. Spattering can be seen in the northwest corner (upper left) and a steady stream of lava, coming from an unseen source towards the southeast, is in the lower right. For scale, the lava lake is about 150 meters (164 yards) wide here. The lava stream plunges into the lava lake, disrupting the crust in a chaotic fashion and later inducing a rotation to the flow in the lake. The photo on this page from June 1 shows the source of the lava stream photographed during an overflight, which is the only way this portion of the vent cavity floor can be seen.