lava lake

Lava lakes can form in three ways:{{cite web|url=http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/images/pglossary/LavaLake.php |title=VHP Photo Glossary: Lava lake |publisher=Volcanoes.usgs.gov |access-date=2013-08-15}}

• from one or more vents in a crater that erupts 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 basaltic Erta Ale lake in Ethiopia and the basaltic andesite volcano of Villarrica, Chile, to the unique phonolitic lava lake at Mt. Erebus, Antarctica. Lava lakes have been observed to exhibit a range of behaviours. A "constantly circulating, apparently steady-state" lava lake was observed during the 1969–1971 Mauna Ulu eruption of Kīlauea, Hawai{{okina}}i.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 By contrast, a lava lake at the 1983–1984 Puʻu 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.Wolfe et al. (1988). "Geologic observations and chronology of eruptive events". US Geological Survey Professional Paper 1463

The behaviour observed is influenced by the combined effects of pressure within the reservoir, exsolution and decompression of gas bubbles within the conduit and, potentially, exsolution of bubbles within the magma reservoir. Superimposed upon this is the effect of bubbles rising through the liquid, and coalescence 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.Witham and Llewellin (2006). "Stability of Lava Lakes". +Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research vol. 158 p.321–332

Persistent lava lakes are a rare phenomenon. Only a few volcanoes have hosted persistent or near-persistent lava lakes during recent decades:

• Mount Erebus,{{cite web |url=http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1900-02= |title=Global Volcanism Program : Erebus |publisher=Volcano.si.edu |access-date=2013-08-15 |archive-date=2006-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060708102822/http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1900-02= |url-status=dead }} Ross Island, Antarctica
• Erta Ale,{{cite web |url=http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0201-08= |title=Global Volcanism Program : Erta Ale |publisher=Volcano.si.edu |access-date=2013-08-15 |archive-date=2013-02-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130217054354/http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0201-08= |url-status=dead }} Ethiopia
• Kīlauea,{{cite gvp|vn=332010|name=Kīlauea}} Big Island, Hawai{{okina}}i
• Masaya volcano, Nicaragua{{Cite web |title=Global Volcanism Program {{!}} Masaya |url=https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=344100 |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=Smithsonian Institution {{!}} Global Volcanism Program |language=en}}
• Mount Michael, Saunders Island, South Sandwich Islands{{cite news |title=Remote Mount Michael volcano hosts persistent lava lake |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48852670 |website=BBC News |date=3 July 2019 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=3 July 2019}}
• Mount Nyiragongo,{{cite gvp|vn=223030|name=Nyiragongo}} Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Mount Yasur, Vanuatu{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH19qdrdZDM |title=Mount Yasur Volcano, Tanna - Tourist Showcase Video |date=2024-05-05 |last=Extreme Pursuit |access-date=2024-10-23 |via=YouTube}}

The lava lakes at Ambrym volcano disappeared after a large eruption in December 2018.{{Cite web |date=17 April 2019 |title=Ambrym volcano (Vanuatu) - Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report for 17 April-23 April 2019 (Continuing Activity) |url=https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/ambrym/news/166001/Ambrym-volcano-Vanuatu-Smithsonian-USGS-Weekly-Volcanic-Activity-Report-for-17-April-23-April-2019-C.html |access-date=3 April 2024 |website=Volcano Discovery}}

For many years, Kīlauea had two persistent lava lakes: one in the Halemaʻumaʻu vent cavity within the summit caldera, and another within the Puʻu ʻŌʻō cone located on the east rift zone of the volcano.{{cite web |url=http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hvo/activity/kilaueastatus.php |title=HVO Kilauea Status |publisher=Volcanoes.usgs.gov |access-date=2013-08-15 |archive-date=2012-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308071721/http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hvo/activity/kilaueastatus.php/ |url-status=dead }} In May 2018, both of these lava lakes disappeared as a result of increased 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.{{cite web |title=USGS Volcanoes |url=https://twitter.com/USGSVolcanoes/status/1340964823228588032 |access-date=21 December 2020}} 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,{{cite web |url=http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0203-03=&volpage=var |title=Global Volcanism Program : Nyiragongo |publisher=Volcano.si.edu |access-date=2013-08-15 |archive-date=2013-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130331072223/http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0203-03=&volpage=var |url-status=dead }} although Masaya is believed to have hosted an even larger lava lake at the time of the Spanish conquest, being 1,000 meters wide in 1670.{{cite web |url=http://eps.mcgill.ca/~courses/c435/Gravity-papers/rymer%20et%20al%201998.pdf |title=Pit crater structure and processes governing persistent activity at Masaya Volcano, Nicaragua |publisher=Eps.mcgill.ca |access-date=2013-08-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081839/http://eps.mcgill.ca/~courses/c435/Gravity-papers/rymer%20et%20al%201998.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=dead }} The lava lake at Masaya came back in January 2016.{{Cite web|url=https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/masaya.html|title=Masaya|website=www.volcanodiscovery.com|access-date=2016-11-07}}

In addition to the aforementioned persistent lava lakes, a certain number of occurrences of temporary lava lakes (sometimes called lava ponds or lava pools, depending on their size and nature{{Cite journal | last1 = Tazieff | first1 = H. | author-link = Haroun Tazieff| doi = 10.1016/0377-0273(94)90015-9 | title = Permanent lava lakes: Observed facts and induced mechanisms | journal = Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research | volume = 63 | pages = 3–11| year = 1994 | issue = 1–2 | bibcode = 1994JVGR...63....3T}}) have also been observed and are listed in the following table.

{{Expand list|date=May 2012}}

• Kīlauea Iki – solidified lava lake in a pit crater
• {{annotated link|Types of volcanic eruptions}}

{{USGS|work=Volcano Hazards Program Photo Glossary|title=Lava lake|url=http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/images/pglossary/LavaLake.php}}

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{{Commons category|Lava lakes}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081019181130/http://www.france24.com/en/20080817-republic-democratic-congo-volcano-Nyiragongo Lava lake in Nyiragongo Volcano crater. Video on France 24 TV]
• [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/video.cfm?c_id=1&gal_cid=1&gallery_id=113983 Into the mouth of a volcano], video footage of lava lake in Vanuatu's Marum volcano

Category:Volcanic landforms