Photo and Video Chronology - Kīlauea - May 16, 2012

By Kīlauea May 16, 2012

Spattering at Halema‘uma‘u lava lake.

Spattering at Halema‘uma‘u lava lake

The spatter from the lava lake was landing, in part, on the ledge a... — The spatter from the lava lake was landing, in part, on the ledge adjacent to the lake, and then flowing away in a small channel toward the southern side of the vent where it was ponding and cooling. Notice the wrinkled crust on the surface of the lake.

Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details

This video 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.