This pyroclastic deposit dates from the 1800's. This eruption from Kilauea killed a number of warriors going to battle against the future Hawaiian king Kamehameha, and was partially responsible for the local chieftain submitting to Kamehameha. Group has lunch in East Rift zone of Kilauea, no doubt contemplating the mess that would result if the extension rate of 8-10 cm per year should suddenly, and catastrophically, increase. Sam climbs for coconuts anyway. Cameron, a younger member of the group, laughs at danger.
Group enjoys dinner and an occasional phreatic explosion as lava flows into sea.
Lava flowing into the sea is best appreciated at night. Xenoliths here are fragments of the mantle and shallow level magma chambers that were brought up with the lava during an eruption from the Hualalai volcano on the west coast of Hawaii. Drilling for hydrothermal energy on the east rift zone of Kilauea. Hydrothermal energy supplies a substantial proportion of the Big Island's electricity.