Drill hole inside Kilauea Iki crater

Drill hole cover from when the lava lake in Kilauea Iki was drilled to study the crystallization and cooling of small magma bodies. The rate of cooling and crystallization increased with time. The eruption occurred in 1959, and by 1981, large-scale fractionation of the lava lake ceased and only in situ crystallization could occur since little to no fluid was present.

Location