142 F. A . Ferret — Lava Fountains of Kilauea. 



The aperture permitted of very short daylight exposures, 

 and at night an exposure of 1/4 second was sufficient, which, 

 if the moment were well chosen, resulted in satisfactory defi- 

 nition. 



By this means we distinguish, in the average large fountain, 

 three principal periods which may be designated as, 1, the 

 Spatter Phase (fig. 2) ; 2, the Dome Phase (figs. 3 and 5) ; and 

 3, the Subsidence Phase (fig. 4). Not all the fountains show 

 both the spatter and dome phases, many simply doming up 

 without a drop of lava being thrown off, while others are so 

 scattered that scarcely the semblance of a dome can be observed, 



Fig. 3. 



Fig. 3. Telephoto night view. " Old Faithful." Dome phase. 



but the normal Kilauea fountain shows all three. The spatter 

 phase of these fountains forms the source of the well-known 

 filamentary lava — u Pele's Hair" — the drops thrown from the 

 fountain spinning out glassy threads which are wind-borne to 

 a distance and take the place, as ejectamenta, of the scoriae, 

 lapilli, and ash of more viscous lavas. 



When a fountain boils np, bringing highly incandescent lava 

 into contact with the air, the cooling of the surface takes place 

 with extraordinary rapidity, the bright orange dome becoming 

 covered almost instantly with a brown skin which the boiling 

 movement converts into a network of dark lines, as shown in 

 fig. 5. The reader must here be reminded that these lines, as 

 well as the surface skin of the lake, appear lighter in the day- 

 light photograph than the glowing lava of the fountain dome. 



Regarding the dynamics of these fountains of lava there has 

 existed a great diversity of opinion. Wm. Lowthian Green* 

 * " Vestiges of the Molten Globe," Part II. Honolulu, 1887. 



