Kilauea Erupts! R.I.P. Kilauea Water Lake. Viva the Lava Lake!

Madam Pele awakened rather abruptly on the night of December 20th, 2020, and decided that water lake in her crater just had to go. Volcano goddesses remodel in a spectacular fashion.

Thermal webcam images show Kilauea’s water lake boiled off by the eruption. Credit: USGS

Lakes are temporary features, geologically speaking. Some lakes are more temporary than others. When a lake makes its home in the crater of an active volcano, its life can be very short indeed. And what takes months or years to create can take only hours to destroy.

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