Spattering at Western Margin of Lava Lake at Halema`uma`u

This Quicktime movie shows the impressive spattering at the western margin of the lava lake at Halema‘uma‘u. The continuous spattering is often punctuated by bursts which throw lava onto the ledge (left portion of image), and this accumulating lava is building a spatter rampart. If you focus on the right portion of the image, you can see the slow migration of the lava lake surface crust towards the spatter source, where lava sinks back into the magmatic system.