USGS: This Is How Scientists ‘Collect’ Lava

For volcanologists in Hawaii, collecting lava is just another day at the office. Kilauea, located on Hawaii’s Big Island, is one of the most active volcanoes on Earth. The scientists who study its activity spend their days observing flows, analyzing lava samples anddoingone of the coolest jobs ever.

The U.S. Geological Surveyrecently uploaded video footage from the point of view of a geologist collecting a lava sample, and the process looks too simple (and too awesome) to be true.

Have a look at the following links andvideos:

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_chronology.html

This video clip shows geologist Tim Orr sampling lava from an active pahoehoe breakout on the episode 61g lava flow. The chemistry of these lava samples provides information on the magma plumbing system. Sampling has been a regular part of monitoring K?lauea Volcano’s ongoing Pu‘u ‘?‘? eruption.

Click here to see the video: Lava sampling