Lua Manu is a small roadside pit crater approximately 0.4 miles from the beginning of Chain of Craters Road in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. We stopped at the roadside pullout during our February 2014 visit to the park. Pit craters are typically formed when the underground lava flow subsides removing the support from the rock above. Over time, they expand from a cone shape with a narrow hole at the surface as additional rock falls in. What makes Lua Manu interesting is that lava from the July 1974 eruption flowed into the pit to a depth of about 50 feet before mostly flowing out through a fissure in the side of the crater. The 1974 eruption consisted of pāhoehoe or smooth, unbroken lava which flowed like a river.
Lua Manu is about 320 feet wide and about 80 feet deep |
Hand rail from old overlook that was covered by the 1974 lava flow |
Lava flowed over the rim and into the crater |
A single roadside tree remains from the forest that was destroyed in the 1974 lava flow |
1974 lava flow |
Forest at the edge of the 1974 lava flow |
Lava solidified around several trees before they burned to ash |
Looking across the 1974 lava flow |
View toward the source of the 1974 lava flow |
Science in the park |
A collapsed lava tube |
The smooth lava river |
Life returns |
Lua Manu from the top of the lava flow |
The pit of Lua Manu |
The `ohi`a lehua is a pioneer plant on new lava |
More 'ohi'a |
Another hole formed around a tree |
The green lava contains the mineral olivine |
Spider |
The park website is http://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm.
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