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A complex configuration has been in place deep within the vent cavity in Halema`uma`u crater. Lava upwells in the west portion of the vent floor (upper left of photograph), feeding the small, crusted, circular lava lake. In the east portion of the vent cavity floor, lava upwells (out of view, towards the lower right of the photo) and feeds an elevated and swiftly moving lava stream, which flows west and cascades over a small cliff into the lava lake.
An infrared image of the summit vent in Halema‘uma‘u crater. The bright white area is a cascade of lava, falling from a shelf into a deeper pond within the vent cavity.
Looking northwest at the lava pond on the floor of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. At the time of the photograph, the level of the lava pond was about 3 m (10 ft) below the floor of the crater.
