Lava enters the ocean entry in the vicinity of Vacationland, producing a vigorous laze plume. Lava flowing into the ocean has built a delta of flows, rock rubble and black sand, which is over 320 acres in size.
The interaction of molten lava flowing into cool seawater causes pulsating “littoral explosions” that throw spatter (fragments of molten lava) and pieces of solidified glassy lava (black sand, Pele’s hair, limu o Pele) high into the air. In this aerial view of the Kapoho ocean entry, these dark-colored lava particles are blasted skyward through billowing white clouds of seawater steam (laze). Ocean entry littoral explosions can create hazardous conditions both on land and at sea, because the lava fragments can be thrown far inland, as well as seaward. Captions and Photo source: USGS
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A new video from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows explosions occurring in mid-air as lava flows into the ocean near the Big Island.
They’re called “littoral explosions” and they occur when molten lava flows into cool ocean water. When waves splash onto molten lava, they explode into a cloud of steam, hot water and tephra, according to the USGS…
