Lava Enters the Pacific at Hawaii's Volcanoes National Park

Mike Dziekan, Connecticut Analytical Corporation

I took this photo early in the morning in August 2005 from a lookout point on Chain of Craters Road in Hawaii's Volcanoes National Park. The photo shows the steam cloud produced by molten lava entering the ocean.

The air quality around the steam cloud is not always good. They post an air quality index (good, poor, bad, etc.) due to the interaction of the lava and seawater. The day we were there, they were reporting that the steam cloud contained concentrations of HCL (among other things), and therefore the air quality was rated as "POOR." Visitors with asthma or other respiratory problems will want to keep this in mind.

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