Lava bubble burst and littoral cone on active delta, Kilauea Volcano, Hawai`i

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Photograph by T.N. Mattox on March 9, 1994

Lava bubble burst sends spatter onto the flanks of a small littoral cone (right center) on the Kamoamoa delta, south coast of Kilauea Volcano. Though most littoral cones built by bubble burst explosions are relatively low like this one, we observed one cone as tall 8 meters with a diameter of 28 m its base. When we visited this same cone many weeks later when the the delta had become inactive, the conduit within the cone was more than 10 m deep, and the underlying empty lava tube was well below sea level.

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Updated: 2 June 2000 (SRB)

Photo Information
Photograph by T.N. Mattox on March 9, 1994
Lava bubble burst sends spatter onto the flanks of a small littoral cone (right center) on the Kamoamoa delta, south coast of Kilauea Volcano. Though most littoral cones built by bubble burst explosions are relatively low like this one, we observed one cone as tall 8 meters with a diameter of 28 m its base. When we visited this same cone many weeks later when the the delta had become inactive, the conduit within the cone was more than 10 m deep, and the underlying empty lava tube was well below sea level.