Cracks on the Cauldron

A stark and foreboding scene slowly erupted across the lava fields of Kalapana, as if the edges of hell itself were pushing out of its constraining walls. Splitting, crackling and heaving upward with the slowly expansive downhill thrust of the flow, the rigid crust parts to reveal glimpses of a far larger 2,000-degree cauldron. The radiative heat was a welcomed source of comfort against the morning twilight’s chill — but only at the right distance!