Lava lake

For other uses, see Lava (disambiguation).

Lava lake inside a pit crater at Erta Ale.

Aerial view of a lava lake atop the Kūpaʻianahā vent on the east rift zone of Kīlauea Volcano. This lava lake has since solidified, but two other lava lakes currently exist on Kilauea.

Lava lakes are large volumes of molten lava, usually basaltic, contained in a volcanic vent, crater, or broad depression. The term is used to describe both lava lakes that are wholly or partly molten and those that are solidified^{[citation needed]}. Lava lakes can form in three ways:

1. From one or more vents in a crater that erupts enough lava to partially fill the crater
2. When lava pours into a crater or broad depression and partially fills the crater
3. Atop a new vent that erupts lava continuously for a period of several weeks or more and slowly builds a crater higher and higher above the surrounding ground.

There have been four volcanoes with persistent or near persistent lava lakes during recent decades:

• Erta Ale, Ethiopia
• Mount Erebus, Antarctica
• Kīlauea, Hawaii
• Nyiragongo, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Three other volcanoes have displayed intermittent lava lake activity recently:

• Masaya, Nicaragua
• Marum, Ambrym, Vanuatu
• Villarrica, Chile

Kilauea has the distinction of having two lava lakes: one in the Halema`uma`u vent cavity within the summit caldera, and another located within the Pu'u O'o cone located on the east rift zone of the volcano.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "VHP Photo Glossary: Lava lake" by the Volcano Hazards Program.

External links

• Lava lake in Nyiragongo Volcano crater. Video on France 24 TV
• Into the mouth of a volcano, video footage of lava lake in Vanuatu's Marum volcano