Lava spills onto cooled crust

A telephoto view of the western lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea. Around 10:00 a.m. on November 9, geologists in the field witnessed lava from the western part of the active lava lake (right) flowing onto an area of cooled solidified crust (left). The inactive lake surface is about 4 m (13 ft) lower than the active surface of the lake in this area. USGS photo by J. Schmith.