The leading edge of this pahoehoe flow is about 150-200 m from where lava is
breaking out from the lava tube. Pu`u `O`o (background) is about 2.5 km
away. This is only one of many flows that formed when lava began leaking
from the tube immediately after the end of a 12-day pause in the eruption.
The breakouts resulted from dams or blockages within the tube
system. During the pause, the roof and walls of the tube collapsed, creating
many blockages. When lava again entered
the tube on September 23, it was forced onto the surface upstream of
the blockages, forming new surface flows.
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