KILAUEA GALLERY: January-April 2002

So far 2002 has had one of the most spectacular periods I have seen in a long time. The Kamoamoa Ocean Entry has stopped in early January 2002. The pause in the eruption cause lava tube collapses and blockages. When the eruption resume lava engorged the tubes and broke out of the skylights to create lava ponds and rootless shields. On 23 January 2002 there were three active rootless lava ponds on top of Pulama pali as you can see below. These are not connected to vents within earth rather they are lava tubes engorged with lava spilling out of skylights along the old lava tube. As the lava continues to pour out of the skylight it begins to build a lava shield. To get some of these photos I had more encounters with "Shelly" the shelly pahoehoe god. I got some nasty cuts. I had to spend the night on top of the Pali because it was difficult to descend at night. I just camped near the shields to keep me warm. A few weeks later on 9 Feb 2002 I went back to the lava lakes and witnessed some spattering. The one lake I was photographing decided to overflow and the lava started to come towards me. Luckily it was moving slow.

"Lake of Fire 2" 020123 Rootless lava lake, mile from Puu Oo	"Lake of Fire 1" 020123 Rootless lava lake, mile from Puu Oo !
"Rootless Spatter" 020209 Spatter from rootless lava lake	"Rootless Lava Lake" 020209 Lava pond at rootless lava lake
"Lit Sky" 020123 Beginning of rootless shield	"Lava Blob" 020209 Lava blob from rootless shield
"Lava Dog" 020209	"Crustal Overturn" 020427 Puu Oo lava lake overturns
"Puu Oo 020427-2" Puu Oo crater wall with active vents.	"Puu Oo 020427-3" 2 active spatter cones insside Puu Oo
Puu Oo Spatter Cone 020427"	"Puu Oo Lava Lake" 020427 Glowing Puu Oo lava lake
"South Pond Vent" 020427 Active spatter cone inside Puu Oo

All photographs (C) Jeffrey F Brown except for Guest Gallery submissions