Breathtaking aerial videos of the Kilauea volcano erupting
Mick Kalber is posting daily flyover videos of the eruption of the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii. This one, from June 23, is one of the better ones from the past week and features a frothing ocean of erupting lava and a speedily flowing river of molten rock.
The Volcano Goddess, Pele is continually erupting hot liquid rock into the channelized rivers leading to the Pacific Ocean. Most of the fountaining activity is still confined within the nearly 200-foot high spatter cone she has built around that eruptive vent. Her fiery fountains send 6-9 million cubic meters of lava downslope every day… a volume difficult to even wrap your mind around!
According to the USGS, the temperature of the lava when it erupts is around 2140 °F, which is pretty hot but not as hot as a kiln can get when firing some high-fire clays and porcelains. (thx, christopher)
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