Photographer Page

Andrew Hara

Lava takes on different textures depending on its temperature when it emerges, which often changes as an eruption proceeds. Spiky a'a forms when the lava comes out fast and liquidy, and smooth, ropy pahoehoe forms when the flow is thicker and more viscous.

As of July 4, over 550 acres of new land had been created on the Big Island. New tendrils of lands grow out into the sea along about four miles of the coast.

Lava covered miles of roads.

Pahoehoe lava flows stream downhill from an active fissure, sparing nothing in their path.

Channelized streams of lava surround the last bit of road left in this stretch of the Leilani Estates. Meandering flows have covered the rest of the area with smooth basalt.

Steam and clouds envelop the greenery of the Big Island.

Viewers standing atop Mauna Kea look out at the glittering stars and the Kilauea eruption glowing below.

The sun rises on a lava river flowing from an active fissure. The river travels upward of 25 miles an hour in some sections, carrying lava "boats" along in its flow. Upwind of the river, vegetation is green and lush, but downwind, sulfuric acid outgassed from the lava lands on the plants and burns their leaves, causing them to yellow and wither.

Hot, gassy, particle-laden winds swirl through Leilani Estates. Cinder and tephra shards whirl in heavy drafts and vortices, raining ash all over the neighborhood.

Some of the eruptive events are explosive, shooting ribbons of lava hundreds of feet into the air.