Check Out the New Lava Flows From Kilauea and Piton de la Fournaise

A new lava flow issues from the Puʻu ʻŌʻō on May 24, 2016.HVO/USGS We've had a lot of explosivevolcaniceruptions to discuss over the past few months, but now it's time for a couple places where lava flows dominate to take center stage. Two of the most active shield volcanoes on Earth saw some new developments last week: Kilauea on Hawai'i and Piton de la Fournaise on Reunion Island. Let's run down the action: Hawaii After some intense inflation across Kilauea's summit and a dramatic rise in the summit lava lake, new lava flows have started issuing from the Puʻu ʻŌʻō vent on the East Rift Zone. This demonstrates some of the interconnectedness of the Kilauea magmatic system, where changes in the volcano at the summit can manifest over 18 kilometers down the slopes with with new lava flows at Puʻu ʻŌʻō. The lava flows coincided with a period of strong ...