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Olivine-basalt drill core
Chip Clark
Specimen | Catalog Number | Locality | Weight |
---|---|---|---|
Olivine-basalt | NMNH 115475-39 | United States, Hawaii |
During a 36-day eruption in 1959, the Hawaiian volcano Kilauea produced rivers of red-hot lava that filled the adjacent crater, Kilauea Iki, to a depth of 135 m (440 ft) and created a lake of molten rock.
The Kilauea lava lake provided scientists with a natural laboratory and a rare opportunity: a chance to observe lava slowly crystallizing. From 1959 through the early 1990s, they closely monitored the lake as it cooled and solidified.
In August of 1967, geologists prepare to drill through the crust of the partly solidified lava lake.
Background: December 5, 1959--Fountaining lava fills the crater like a giant bathtub.