Volcanic ash covers Crater Rim Drive near Halema‘uma‘u

A small explosion in the early morning hours on April 16, 2008, from the new Halema‘uma‘u vent (below the white gas plume, left) blasted rock fragments less than 4 mm above the crater rim. Wind blew the ash plume southwest across Crater Rim Drive. Geologists' truck leaves tracks in the pale-red ash several millimeters thick on the roadway. The ash is mainly older lava fragments but contains some Pele's tears, hair, and tiny, hollow glass spheres.