Rare Photo Of 65-Foot-Tall Lava Dome in Hawaii Is Absolutely Spectacular

1774 days – the duration of the Mauna Ulu eruption of Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii. That’s a total of five years!

The longest running eruption ever recorded at the time, it produced about 460 million cubic yards of lava. From 1969 to 1974, the eruption was readily viewable to the public via observation platforms, producing an incredibly rare phenomena.

The US Geological Survey has recently released an image captured in 1969 by photographer J.B. Judd, showing a rare dome fountain which measured roughly 65 feet high. The symmetry of the dome, one of 12 fountaining events which took place in the first year was responsible for spillage into the ocean 7.5 miles away.

The dome lasted several days, from October 10th to October 13th and could have reached 245 feet high.

This dome was special compared to any normal sighting due to its shape. In the image, it looks almost as if the dome is perched upon water, but this is actually ripples of lava.

Fountaining typically occurs when the eruption forms a fissure, vent or lava lake with gas bubbling up causes expansion and explosion.

Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō has since taken the record, ongoing since 1983, but this image still reminds us of just how active Hawaii’s volcanoes have been throughout history.

Dome fountain of episode 10, October 10–13, 1969, eruption of Kilauea Volcano. This dome fountain is about 20 m (65 ft) high. Symmetrical dome fountains such as this are rare. #Tbt #HI @Volcanoes_NPS pic.twitter.com/sKSQaVINKs

— USGS (@USGS) March 29, 2018

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