Green Lake was "flooded" with lava from above, and boiled off in the open, much like leaving a pot of water on the stove on HIGH until all the water was gone.
The theory was that under the crater lake, was more water, trapped in the rock. This was the stuff that was supposed to go BOOM as lava rose to meet it. But, didn't happen.
After seeing the replays of the initial stages of the eruption, it certainly was a unexpected start. The vent opened up just adjacent to, but NOT under, the crater lake. As a result the crater lake boiled off in ~40 minutes in the same manner as Green Lake. Being saturated with dissolved gas and acids, I'd wager some folks in Kau woke up this morning thinking "WTF is that smell?"
Looking like we have a lava lake folks. Potentially a big one, if the vents keep going. Unlike pre-2018, it's not down a steep hole, so crater rim viewers can get a real nice view. Who's heading up tonight?
The theory was that under the crater lake, was more water, trapped in the rock. This was the stuff that was supposed to go BOOM as lava rose to meet it. But, didn't happen.
After seeing the replays of the initial stages of the eruption, it certainly was a unexpected start. The vent opened up just adjacent to, but NOT under, the crater lake. As a result the crater lake boiled off in ~40 minutes in the same manner as Green Lake. Being saturated with dissolved gas and acids, I'd wager some folks in Kau woke up this morning thinking "WTF is that smell?"
Looking like we have a lava lake folks. Potentially a big one, if the vents keep going. Unlike pre-2018, it's not down a steep hole, so crater rim viewers can get a real nice view. Who's heading up tonight?