Kilauea Lava Lake

Lava Lake in the crater of Pu'u O'o vent on Kilauea Volcano. The crater is approximately 1000 feet long by 600 feet wide. Located on the Big Island of Hawaii. Recorded July 11, 2007.

Pu'u O'o is a dynamic volcanic vent, so you may see different landscapes on its crater depending on when the video was taken. Its geologic features are continuously collapsing and rebuilding over very short periods of time.

More photos and videos:
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Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• lava
• volcano
• Kilauea
• Hawaii
• lake
• eruption

[volcanochaser]

The caldera may become flat when lava makes its way back into the caldera and fills the lower areas to the same level. In the crater/caldera shown here the bottom had collapsed a few days before and then filled with a lava lake. If it had solidified, it would have remained flat. However, it collapsed, again a few days after this video was taken and the bottom cannot be seen because of the heavy fumes coming out.

[volcanochaser]

Calderas form when the top surface collapses into an empty space below. The empty space can form when the volcano erupts a lot of material and the material is not replaced by more lava from below. An example of this is Yellowstone and Crater Lake in the US. It can also form when the lava below the surface drains away back into the earth or comes out at a lower vent on the side of the volcano. Mauna Loa and Kilauea are examples of these.

[totoni2000]

i am from Fogo, Cape Verde. We too have a volcano. to me, the island of Fogo looks like a volcano itself. the caldera is big. is it true that caldera foms because the lava dome gets smaller... and it leaves any empty space,,, and then the ground caves in. but how come tthe caldera is flat?

[CptBulldog]

OMG! I wanna go back out there again, after being there several times I always dreamed it would do something like this again.

[newman20072008]

thats the (hottest) video ive seen in a while lol lol get it? hot? i guess you HAD 2 bee there lol

[Dkc3]

Ok thanks, well anyway, I found this video to be very neat and fun to watch. Thanks for uploading!

[volcanochaser]

A crater is formed when the volcanic vent erupts and blows material out.  A caldera, which can be much larger, forms when the underlying magma drains away and the overlying material collapses in. Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference, so the two may be used interchangeably.

[Dkc3]

Ok, I understand. If you were to throw something in you should definitely aim for lava. Quick question, what is the major difference between the caldera and the crater? Just curious :D

[volcanochaser]

This is the crater of the Pu'u O'o vent of Kilauea. It is located about 10 miles from the summit caldera. Not all the surface inside the crater is liquid lava, specially along the edges, so if somebody throws in a plastic water bottle and it lands on the cooler crust, it will remain there to spoil the view of other visitors. (This vent does not have visible lava at present---Apr 17, 08)

[Dkc3]

Well what I kind of meant was in this video it appears you are looking into the caldera of a volcano, am I correct? If it is the caldera then the lava has a long ways to go before it gets to the ocean, but I can understand if you shouldn't throw stuff in the flow when it's closer to the ocean.