Chain of craters road, Kilauea volcano, Hawaii

Chain of craters road winds 32km down the southern slopes of Kilauea volcano, (1250m; 4090ft), the youngest and most active of Hawaii's volcanoes. The road passes by several older small craters and across lava fields of various ages. The road access comes to an abrupt end on the southeast Puna coast at the latest lava flow from Kilauea's East Rift Zone which cut the road. The basaltic Hawaiian lavas have two distinct forms, although chemically they are the same: *aa* (viscous, rough) and p*ahoehoe* (smooth, ropy, billowy).This image shows a mixture of *aa* and *pahoehoe* flows with the Mauna Ulu vent which erupted between 1969-1974 on the horizon.