Friday, September 17, 2010

~ Inflation leads to surface lava ~

By the second day of continuous increase of magma pressures the coastal lava tube system became pressurized to the point of rupture; spilling molten lava onto the surface.
This breakout was 1st noted around noon yesterday, the 16th, by field researcher Ron Boyle, who offered the images here.

The breakout was a small section of a few hundred feet along the coastal flats active lava tubes situated about one-quarter mile west from the present terminus of highway 130’s Kalapana Gardens access road. After dark some of this breakout was visible to visitors but barely.

Deformation or D/I monitors are right now showing what appears to be a peaking out and reversal of the inflation back to deflation.

I was not able to go out there this morning to see firsthand whether this surface flow continued or not; I think it may have stalled overnight; I’ll check the area out today/tonight.

Meanwhile lava continued pumping into the ocean producing a large steam plume by day and orange-red plume by night.

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