Eric Reiter Photography
Cooling lava flow
Piton de la Fournaise is a shield volcano on the eastern side of Réunion island in the Indian Ocean. It is currently one of the most active volcanoes in the world, along with Kīlauea and Etna.
Most of its eruptions are of the Hawaiian style: fluid basaltic lava flowing out with fire fountaining at the vent. Lava flows crossing the Grand Brûlé occasionally reach the sea, with spectacular results. But occasionally, phreatic eruptions occur.
The last eruption occurred on 9 December 2010 and lasted for two days.
This photo was taken on april 2001, 10 days after the end of a short eruption from the rim of the Dolomieu crater. It shows the stream from the cooling lava flow.
Cooling lava flow
Piton de la Fournaise is a shield volcano on the eastern side of Réunion island in the Indian Ocean. It is currently one of the most active volcanoes in the world, along with Kīlauea and Etna.
Most of its eruptions are of the Hawaiian style: fluid basaltic lava flowing out with fire fountaining at the vent. Lava flows crossing the Grand Brûlé occasionally reach the sea, with spectacular results. But occasionally, phreatic eruptions occur.
The last eruption occurred on 9 December 2010 and lasted for two days.
This photo was taken on april 2001, 10 days after the end of a short eruption from the rim of the Dolomieu crater. It shows the stream from the cooling lava flow.