Foto

In plain daylight the encounter between the hot lava and the ocean is somewhat less spectacular than at night. The plume of steam is nevertheless visible for miles, often feeding a cloud that rises above the coast. For now the lava is obviously wining this war and the young island of Hawaii is growing, but as you can see from the image the ocean is putting up a serious fight. The lava flow drifts slowly along the slope of the volcano and the entire coast is made out of solidified lava from previous years. Younger layers are visible on top left, hanging like a curtain above the older ones. The erosion of the waves slowly transforms the volcanic rock into black sand beaches, one of which is emerging right in the middle of the image. I am not quite sure why many tourists are mesmerized by these black beaches, which display in fact different shades of gray. Probably because they look different than most other beaches.
For more information about the lava of the Kilauea volcano see my previous posts.