Fresh Lava on Hawaii

Provided and Copyright by: Jim Pastore
Summary Author: Jim Pastore

The photo above shows lava pouring into the Pacific Ocean from the Big Island of Hawaii as observed on March 8, 2008. Volcanoes National Park was closed for several days due to the march of the lava to the sea, and thus a helicopter was the best choice to see the Earth's freshest surface and the resulting steam created where the lava falls into the sea. This ocean entry was east of the Waikupanaha entry which was one of the larger flows in recent years. Notice the unstable shelf created by the lava just above the black sand.