Halemaumau last erupted in 1924. It had been a lava lake for a full century before that, dazzling visitors with its churning molten rock, and inducing at least one couple to leap to their deaths. Mark Twain [Samuel Clemens] described it in great detail during his travels to Hawaii. "HILO ยป A natural explosion at a glowing gas vent inside Halemaumau Crater early yesterday morning blasted rocks and boulders as much as a cubic yard in volume over a 75-acre area, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said. Observatory head Jim Kauahikaua described a theory that a rocky area as much as 100 feet wide, which had been releasing huge amounts of sulfur dioxide gas, collapsed and blocked vents during the night. Pressure built up until the area blew open at 2:58 a.m., he said. The blast was so forceful that the observatory instruments recorded it as a 3.7-magnitude earthquake. Scientists realized only later in the day that the instruments had recorded an explosion. No lava was released in the blast, and there were no signs that an eruption of lava is likely to take place. Starting March 12, when the new vent releasing up to 2,500 metric tons of gas per day was first seen, the vent area was noted for its glowing red rocks at night." http://starbulletin.com/2008/03/20/news/story02.html Halemaumau sits inside Kilauea Caldera, which is at the summit of Kilauea volcano, home to Volcano National Park. The area had been closed to visitors only days earlier when it first began venting gas, so there were no injuries. Lower on the flank of Kilauea, Pu'u o'o Vent continues to spew lava in the longest recorded continuous lava eruption, now exceeding 25 years. Any bets on whether we see lava in Halemaumau in the coming weeks?
