Views of the 2018 lower East Rift Zone lava flow field along Highway 132

HVO geologists visited the lower East Rift Zone lava flow field this past week to make measurements and observations, to better understand and reconstruct the dynamics of the Fissure 8 lava flow. This photo shows the channel wall in the braided channel region of the flow. The channel wall here is about 6 m (20 feet) high, and the channel just upstream of this position is about 75 m (250 feet) wide. The large scale of the channel is a testament to the unusually high rates of flow, which exceeded 100 cubic meters (yards) per second, in the Fissure 8 channel.