Lava lakes are large volumes of moltenlava, usuallybasaltic, contained in a volcanic vent,crater, or broad depression. The term is used to describe both lava lakes that are wholly or partly molten and those that are solidified (sometimes referred to asfrozen lava lakes).
from one or more vents in a crater thaterupts enough lava to partially fill the crater; or
when lava pours into a crater or broad depression and partially fills the crater; or
atop a new vent that erupts lava continuously for a period of several weeks or more and slowly builds a crater progressively higher than the surrounding ground.
Lava lakes occur in a variety of volcanic systems, ranging from the basalticErta Ale lake in Ethiopia and thebasaltic andesite volcano ofVillarrica, Chile, to the uniquephonolitic lava lake atMt. Erebus, Antarctica. Lava lakes have been observed to exhibit a range of behaviours. A "constantly circulating, apparently steady-state" lava lake was observed during the1969–1971 Mauna Ulu eruption ofKīlauea, Hawaiʻi.[2] By contrast, a lava lake at the 1983–1984Puʻu ʻŌʻō eruption of Kilauea displayed cyclic behaviour with a period of 5–20 minutes; gas "pierced the surface" of the lake, and the lava rapidly drained back down the conduit before the onset of a new phase of lake activity.[3]The behaviour observed is influenced by the combined effects of pressure within the reservoir,exsolution anddecompression of gas bubbles within the conduit and, potentially, exsolution of bubbles within themagma reservoir. Superimposed upon this is the effect of bubbles rising through the liquid, andcoalescence of bubbles within the conduit. The interactions of these effects can create either a steady-state recirculating lake, or a lake level that periodically rises and then falls.[4]
The lava lakes atAmbrym volcano disappeared after a large eruption in December 2018.[12]
For many years,Kīlauea had two persistent lava lakes: one in theHalemaʻumaʻu vent cavity within the summitcaldera, and another within thePuʻu ʻŌʻō cone located on the east rift zone of the volcano.[13] In May 2018, both of these lava lakes disappeared as a result ofincreased activity in Kīlauea's east rift zone. The lava lake at Halemaʻumaʻu returned in December 2020, after Kīlauea's first eruption in over two years.[14] The lava lake solidified after the eruption ended in May 2021, but returned again when eruptive activity at Halemaʻumaʻu resumed on September 29, 2021. Following the 2021 eruption, three more occurred on January 5, 2023; June 7, 2023; and September 10, 2023. As of January 2024, Halemaʻumaʻu is not erupting and the lava lake is no longer active.
Nyiragongo's lava lake has usually been the largest and most voluminous in recent history, reaching 700 meters wide in 1982,[15] althoughMasaya is believed to have hosted an even larger lava lake at the time of theSpanish conquest, being 1,000 meters wide in 1670.[16] The lava lake at Masaya came back in January 2016.[17]
In addition to the aforementioned persistent lava lakes, a certain number of occurrences of temporary lava lakes (sometimes calledlava ponds orlava pools, depending on their size and nature[18]) have also been observed and are listed in thefollowing table.
List of volcanoes having displayed past or present lava lake activity
Ambrym[19] (two lava lakes in both Benbow and Marum craters since around 1991;[20] following an earthquake in December 2018 both lakes are buried under collapsed craters)
Nyamuragira[37][38] (lava lake located within the summit caldera, confirmed for the first time in 1921, drained in 1938, and temporary lava pond in the Kituro cone on the SW flank, during the 1948 eruption)
^Swanson et al. (1979) "Ground deformation at Pu'u 'O'o. U.S. Geological Survey Chronological narrative of the 1969-71 Mauna Ulu eruption of Kilauea volcano". US Geological Survey Professional Paper 1056
^Wolfe et al. (1988). "Geologic observations and chronology of eruptive events". US Geological Survey Professional Paper 1463
^Witham and Llewellin (2006). "Stability of Lava Lakes". '+Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research vol. 158 p.321–332
This article incorporatespublic domain material from"Lava lake".Volcano Hazards Program Photo Glossary.United States Geological Survey.