Lava

    I have always been interested in geology, and one of the things I always liked about Hawaii was that there was a lot of geology to be seen, as the islands were formed by volcanoes.  During our trip to the Big Island of Hawaii in 1991, the Kilauea Volcano had been doing some low level erupting.  Before we got there streams of lava had flowed down one side of the mountain and destroyed the homes in a community that existed there. 

    By the time we arrived, that lava flow had hardened into rock, and people were able to walk out on it.  The photo above shows the remains of one of the structures that the molten lava had destroyed.  

    Underneath the lava upon which we were walking there were “lava tubes,” tunnels where the hot lava was still flowing.  When we got to the shoreline of the ocean, through the thick steam caused by the molten lava hitting the water, we could actually see some glimpses of the orange lava.  If you look carefully at the photo below you can see just a speck of the orange lava, below a black rock showing through the stream near the waves.

    The Kilauea Volcano, when erupting, is quite spectacular with its bright orange lava rivers flowing down slope.  There are two types of lava:   Ah-Ah, which is jagged, and Pahoehoe, which is smooth and ropy.  Below is a shot of hardened Pahoehoe lava that had flowed over an embankment

View my paintings at:  davidmarchant2.ca